Family Life
by CHIBZ
Summary: A new program in Hogwarts will bring together couples that were never meant to be. See what happens when enemies are paired up and forced to live together like a nice happy family. What will happen? Read and find out. Let the fun begin! DM/HG
1. Chpater 1

**A/N:** Welcome to my new story! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would really appreciate reviews after every chapter to let me know what you think of the story so far. Also, I will most likely not include Voldemort in this story. Let's just pretend that he is captured and no longer a threat to Hogwarts. Ok? Ok, thanks. One last thing, the characters will probably be OOC throughout the story. I will try to get them to be in character as much as possible, but for my story I kind of need them to be OOC. If you have a problem with these types of stories then please do me a favor and do not read this story. That is all for now and I hope you enjoy!

P.S. I do not own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

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**Chapter 1**

Hermione Granger sat with her best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the Great Hall for breakfast. It was their first day back to classes and Hermione was eager to get started on school work. But as she scanned through her new schedule, she saw a class that she's never heard of before.

"Family Life? Is that a new class this year or was I asleep the last five years?" asked Hermione.

"I've never heard of this class either, Hermione." Ron said, as he stuffed himself with more eggs and sausages.

"Maybe we'll be learning about our family tree." Harry said.

"Hopefully" Hermione said as she got up to go to their first class. She started walking towards to the door but turned around to see Harry and Ron still eating their breakfast. "Come on now, We don't want to be late for our new class. I'm excited to see what it's about."

Both boys rolled their eyes and got up lazily. They walked up a small marble staircase that they've never seen before towards their newest classroom. They saw a group of students waiting outside the classroom door. Among the students was Draco Malfoy with his friends Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe. He stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Golden Trio, Scar face, Weasel B, and a mudblood." Malfoy said as Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed.

"Just ignore them" Hermione said and took Harry and Ron's arm to go stand somewhere else farther away from Malfoy and his crew. The students were waiting for a very long time and were starting to get impatient when Dumbledore came out of the classroom.

"Sorry for the long wait, but I am now ready for you all to come inside." He said and stepped back inside waiting for all the students to file into the room.

Hermione looked around. There was nothing special about the classroom. It looked like any other room. She looked at all the students around the room and noticed something strange. The students were only from Gryffindor and Slytherin.

_Where are the other houses?_ She wondered to herself as she sat down next to her friend and fellow Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom.

"Ahem" Everyone looked up at Dumbledore as he stood in front of the class.

"Now I know you all must be confused since you've never heard of this class before, but let me inform you that this class isn't something you should be afraid of. This is something new we are trying out this year at Hogwarts. Other schools have done this and we feel that it is time for us to start. We are having this class because we want to prepare you for the adult world. We want to teach you the responsibilities that you will have when you get older."

All the students looked around at each other in confusion. "As you can tell by the name, this class has to deal with family. But here's the catch, this isn't going to be about your own personal family. We are going to pair you all up into couples. Every couple will have to sign a contract agreeing to be a together. Let's just say it's sort of like a marriage." Students groaned as they heard the headmaster say this.

"Great, just great! I can't even find a date to a dance let alone be married!" Ron whispered to Harry who just gave him a weak smile.

"Professor," everyone stared at Hermione as she started to speak, "what would happen if we don't agree and don't sign the contract?" Students moved their stares from Hermione to Dumbledore.

"Well, Miss Granger, if you and your partner do not agree to sign the contract, then that means you both will no longer be in this class. Instead, both students will spend time during this class period to help Filch around the school and even though you both do not agree to sign the contract and are no longer in this class, you both will still have to be together during this class time. So it's up to you all how you want to spend time with your partner. This assignment isn't that hard."

"What is the point of the contract, Professor?"

"We need each couple to sign the contract because there are rules that we need you all to read and follow. By signing the contract you agree to each rule and if anyone couple breaks a rule then there will be consequences. Also, you all might be wondering why it's just Slytherins and Gryffindors in this class. Since this is our first time trying this new program we are splitting the class into two. This means that you and your partner will only be together for half of the year. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs will have their turn during the last half of the school year. Anymore questions?" Everyone shook their heads no. "Good! Now let's start pairing couples together" The whole class held their breaths, waiting for their names to be called.

"Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson." Harry looked at Ron and Hermione with sadness in his eyes. Hermione gave him a smile to comfort him, but that didn't really help much.

"Lavender Brown and Blaise Zabini….Ron Weasley and Millicent Bulstrode…."

As all the students were getting put into pairs, Hermione started to worry as the selections were getting smaller and smaller until it was only her and Malfoy left.

"And last but certainly not least, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy"

Hermiones heart stopped for a second when she realized that she, Hermione Granger, had been partnered up with him, Draco Malfoy. She just sat there in shock as Draco reached her desk and sat down next to her. She looked at him and saw a smirk on his face. She wanted to slap that smirk right off, but she restrained herself and just glared at him before looking forward to avoid his eyes.

Dumbledore walked around the classroom and was passing out the contract. "Make sure that both of you read the contract and sign it at the bottom. Once both students have signed the contract bring it up to me." He handed Hermione the contract and she set it down on the table so both her and Draco could read it.

_Family Life contract._

_Congratulations! You and your partner are now a couple!_

_Please read the following rules and statements and sign at the bottom of the page._

_1. You will no longer be staying in your Slytherin/Gryffindor dorms. Instead, there is a special room set up for you and your partner. Both of you will be living in this room, which is like a small house, for the rest of this class. You and your partner must sleep in the same room. However, there will be two separate beds._

_2. You and your partner will be keeping a journal. Write all your thoughts and feelings in this journal. You will only write in this journal once every week. The journal will be turned in to your professor at the end of every week to check on progress._

_3. Lastly, what kind of family is complete without kids? You and your partner will be given babies to take care of during your time as a couple. Each family has a different number of kids. You will find out how many children your family will have once you get inside your new room. Although these babies are not real and will eventually be gone, please take care of them as though they are your real kids. Remember, children need a lot of love and care!_

_Now that you've read all the rules, it is now time for you to get the map and password for your new room, but for you to be able to get them, please sign on the dotted line below. Also, by signing this contract, you agree to be "married" to your partner until the end of this class which will be at the end of January. Then, after you and your partner have signed this, hand this contract in to your professor who will give you your map and password. Thank you and have fun!_

After reading the entire contract twice, Hermione just stared at the dotted line. _Why me? Why did I have to be paired up with Malfoy? _She glanced up at Draco and saw that he was staring back at her.

"Well Granger, aren't you the lucky one to be married to a Malfoy"

"I wouldn't consider myself lucky. How can anyone ever be happy to be stuck with you? Besides, we not really married. This will only last a few months."

"A few months too long I would say."

"Look, we both don't want to end up working for Filch so let's just agree to the contract and continue on with life."

"Fine, but don't think I'll start kissing up to you just because we're considered a couple now"

Hermione rolled her eyes and signed the contract after Draco signed it. She walked up to Dumbledore and waited in line patiently while the couples in front of her and Draco were getting their maps and passwords to their new room. After every couple got what they needed they sat back down at their desks waiting for Dumbledore to start speaking again.

"I'm so glad to see that every couple has agreed to the contract. One last thing, the journals that you will need are already in your rooms. You will find them inside the drawers next to your bed. Make sure that you write in them at least once a week. After you write in them put them back inside the drawer. At the end of the week they will be magically transported to me to be looked over. The reason for this journal is for me to see how things are and the progresses that you and your partner make. This will help me determine if this is a good class to have permanently at Hogwarts or if it's all a big mistake. Any questions before I let you off in search of your new rooms?"

Neville shyly raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Longbottom?"

"Do we really have to take care of kids?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes, Mr. Longbottom. This is required for all the couples. This will teach you the responsibility of being a parent and by having this experience you'll know when you will actually be ready for kids later on in your life."

"How come some of us will have more kids than others?"

"It was just randomly chosen which family had how many kids. We didn't really choose for each couple. It just happened."

"Are the babies just random babies chosen for us?"

"No, I have worked with a couple of professors to help me come up with a spell that actually put each couple's DNA together to get these children so they will actually be your kids. Not someone random. I know that this must be really difficult for all of you to take in on the first day back, but trust me when I say that this program is nothing to stress about. Just pretend you're one big happy family!"

"Easy for you to say" Hermione whispered to herself.

"Well then, since there are no more questions to be asked, I will allow you all to go search for your rooms. If any of you have any questions feel free to talk to me anytime. Now, off you go."

With that, each couple got up and left eager to see what their new rooms would look like and most importantly, see how many kids they would have to deal with.

Hermione got up and was ready to go, but Draco just sat at the desk and stared at her.

"What?" She asked as she glared at him.

"Since you are married to me now, you only leave when I say we can leave."

Hermione was furious at this comment. "Listen here Malfoy, don't you dare order me around like you own me. Just because we are stuck together in this project doesn't mean that we're a married couple and that you can order me around like some kind of house wife."

"Actually, since we signed the contract and all…"

"Ok, fine we are considered married, but don't think that you can order me around because I will not stand for that!"

"Fine. Calm down, will you?"

"Ughhh…" Hermione was already frustrated and they hadn't even spent an hour together. "Can we just go?"

Malfoy lazily got up and walked out the classroom as Hermione, who had the map, lead them towards their room. They walked through a corridor and noticed that there were many doors (or portraits) along each side. Hermione assumed that this is where all the couples were staying. They walked pass a couple more portraits until they reached their room. They walked up to their portrait and was greeted by a little old lady.

"Oh look at this! Aren't you two just the cutest couple I've ever seen!"

Hermione smiled at her while Draco snorted, "We're probably the only people she's ever seen." Hermione kicked his ankle which made him wince and he stepped on her foot for revenge.

The old lady giggled, "Well, you two are fighting now, but I bet that by the end of this, you both will learn to love each other"

"Ha!" Hermione laughed. "Not with his attitude"

"My attitude? I don't think you should be talking Miss Drama Queen!"

"Me? A drama queen?!"

"Oh no, here she goes again."

"Let's just settle down now." The old lady said. "Do you have a password for me to let you inside?"

"Oh yes!" Hermione said as she totally forgot about being angry at Draco. "The password is Honeysuckle"

"Good!" and with that the portrait swung open allowing the two students to walk inside to their new room.

As Hermione stepped inside she was amazed. The room was color coordinated so that both Slytherin and Gryffindor colors were matched together perfectly. There was a big window that leads into a balcony, a fire place off to the side with two couches and a coffee table, two desks on the opposite side, and a couple of comfy chairs around the room. She heard a door open and looked up to see Draco go inside one of the three doors that she assumed to be the bedrooms. She walked up the spiral staircase that leads her up onto the second floor.

She walked into the first room and saw that the room was huge. She's never seen a bedroom this big before and was so happy to know that this is where she will be staying. Inside, there were two queen-size beds, another huge window that opens up and leads them onto the balcony, the wall was basically a huge shelf full of books, more comfy chairs, and desks.

She walked out and into the next room and noticed that it was just the bathroom. But this was no ordinary bathroom. It was almost as big as the bedroom! There were two sinks one for Hermione and one for Draco, a big bath tub that could probably fit six full grown adults, and a there was also nice big shower just incase a bath wasn't necessary.

She walked out of the bathroom and walked into the room that she saw Draco go in a few minutes ago. She realized as she walked inside that this was their child's room. Hermione loved the baby room. The wallpaper was filled with cute baby animals. There were toys for the baby to play with and a shelf filled with picture books. But then she noticed that there were two clothes drawers and when she looked around the room, she noticed two cribs. It occurred to her that she will be a mother to not one, but two babies.

She walked over to the first crib. She looked down at the pink crib and saw her baby girl sleeping. She was shocked to see how much the baby looked like her when she was just an infant. But instead of brown and curly hair, the baby had straight and silver blonde hair. _She is so adorable,_ Hermione though and reached down to touch her cheek gently with her thumb.

She looked up from the girl and saw Draco standing by the other crib just staring down at the baby inside. As she got closer, she saw that the baby was a boy sleeping in a blue crib. She could tell that he's almost a year old, same age as the little girl. They are twins. He looked so much like Draco, but his hair was a brown hazel color and was slightly curly. He was so cute that Hermione want to just pick him up and hold him forever.

Draco moved his eyes away from the baby and looked at Hermione. She took her eyes away from the baby boy and looked into Dracos. They stared at each other for a moment, taking everything in, taking in the fact that they were now living in their new house-like room, having the responsibility of these two infants. It finally sunk in, both of them are now officially a couple and have a family together. They stood there looking at each other for what seemed like hours until Draco couldn't take the silence anymore.

"What now?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"What now?"

Hermione just stood there, pondering on what they should do next when she heard a small cough come from the pink crib. She watched as Draco walked over to the crib and followed him. They both looked down at the baby and saw that her eyes were open. The baby looked up at both of them with confusion at first, but after a few seconds she started to giggle and reach her hands up wanting one of them to hold her. Hermione bent over the crib and picked up the baby girl and smiled as the baby reached up to touch her face.

"Hi baby."

"I don't think she can talk yet, Granger." Malfoy said as he walked over to one of the couches on the side to sit.

"So? It's good to talk to babies, they'll learn to talk faster."

"Yeah, whatever." Draco snorted. "I'm bored."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"No way."

"Why not? She's your responsibility too."

"I don't care. You're the wife, you take care of the kids!"

"What?! I thought we already went through this, don't treat me like some kind of house wife. These kids are your responsibilities too! Why can't you just grow up and stop acting like an immature child? I swear, Malfoy, you're probably going to horrible husband and parent in the future. I already feel bad for whoever…"

"That's enough! How dare you talk to me like that, you disgusting mudblood." Draco was so angry at what Hermione was saying to him that he was practically screaming at her, which made the baby in her arms start to cry and worse, the baby that was sleeping in the crib was woken up by Draco's loud voice and started to cry too.

"Look what you did! You know what, Malfoy? If you don't want to help me take care them then fine! Just leave! I don't need you." Hermione said as she walked over to the blue crib while trying to calm down the baby girl in her arms.

"Good then! You take care of them!" Draco was livid, he left the room and slammed the door shut which made Hermione jump. Stupid, stupid Malfoy. No good, stupid git, Hermione thought to herself as she walked over to the couch while holding both babies in her arms. She sat down on the couch and was trying really hard to get both of them to calm down. This is harder than I thought. I think I'll go ask Ginny to help me out for a while. Hermione stood up and found a baby stroller in the corner. Perfect! She put both babies in the stroller and walked out of the room. She expected to see Draco sitting outside in the living room but when she looked around she saw that he had left their dorm. Where did he go off to? He could've at least stayed inside. I hate him. Hermione pushed the stroller out the portrait door and walked towards the Gryffindor tower.

Draco slammed the door shut behind him and angrily walked out of their dorm.

"Stupid Granger" he whispered to himself as we walked down the corridor. He heard couples laughing with their kids as he walked past each door and made faces at them. He was about to turn the corner when he heard something that caught his attention. Turning back around, he walked over towards a portrait with a lion like creature.

"Is Pansy Parkinson in there?"

"Yes, she is. With Harry Potter."

Draco rolled his eyes at that last part. "Well, can I go inside?"

"Password?"

"How am I supposed to know what the password is?"

"Sorry. No password, no entry"

"Come on! I'm her friend. Just let me in!"

"I can't let you in without a password"

Draco became frustrated and was about to turn around and walk away when he heard the portrait swing open.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here? Where's Hermione?"

"Who cares where she is, Potter. I came here because I want to talk to Pansy. I heard her voice earlier so I know she's in there. Now let me in." Without waiting for Harry's response, Draco just pushed him out of the way and walked into their dorm. Harry gritted his teeth and refrained himself from saying something. He walked into the dorm and up the stairs into the bedroom.

Once inside, Draco looked around and saw that the dorm was no different than the one he and Hermione had, although the furniture were placed differently it was pretty much the same. He looked over towards the couch and saw Pansy sitting with a child that looked about three. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey Draco! How nice of you to visit. Meet Isabelle. Isabelle, this is Draco."

"Oh, uh….hello…" Draco said as he walked over and sat on the other couch next to them.

"Hi Drago!"

"It's Draco, with a C"

"Haha, you're funny."

"Pansy, I think your kid has problems."

"Shut up" Pansy said and glared at him as she picked Isabelle up.

"Hey, where are you going? I need to talk to you."

"Bringing Isabelle into her room so she can play with her toys. Come up with us"

Draco followed Pansy into the child's room. He was expecting to see a room similar to the one that was in his dorm, but remembered that his kids were only a year old and Isabelle is three. Instead of a crib there was a kid size bed with pink and red covers and there were doll houses instead of stuffed animals. He also noticed that there was only one bed. Pansy set Isabelle down on the floor so she could play with her dolls.

"You're lucky, Pansy. You only have to take care of one kid."

"How many do you have?"

"Two. One year olds. A boy and a girl, I think they're twins."

"Well, obviously, if they're both one year old. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

Draco glared at her.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Don't you think this Family Life class is a load of crap?"

"No actually, I think this is a really good experience for us."

"Who are you and what have you done with Pansy Parkinson?"

"I'm serious, Draco. We can learn a lot from this. What's so bad about it anyways?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just frustrated that I got stuck with Granger."

"Just give her a chance. I got stuck with Potter and after a while I realized that he's actually not that bad."

"Okay, seriously Pansy. What happened to you? At this time last year you would've hexed Potter the instant you found out you were paired with him."

"That's not true!"

Draco raised his eyes at her.

"Okay, fine. Maybe it's a little true, but things change, Draco. People change."

"Did you change because the Dark Lord's no longer around?"

"Draco, stop, I'm not going to talk about that with you. Look, this is something we have to do and there's no getting out of it. You've already signed the contract. It's not like they're asking you to fall in love with Granger or anything drastic. So why don't you just try to get along with it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I just don't know if I can handle it. How do they expect two people who hate each other to come together and raise these kids and pretend like we're one big happy family."

"Hey, this isn't easy for any of us. This is something totally strange and random that they've decided to throw at us, but remember, you're not in this alone, Draco. Every sixth year student is going to go through this. If you still think you're not able to handle this, think about Granger. How do you think she feels? Her partner won't help her and she has to deal with not only one, but two babies."

"Who's side are you on, anyway?"

"Draco, I'm just trying to make you understand that this isn't supposed a cake walk, it's going to be hard and you may not like the person you're paired up with, but she's dealing with the same situation too, so why not try to make the best out of it for both of your sakes."

"I guess I could try to help her out. I don't want to go back to a cranky wife every day. She gets a little crazy when she's in a bad mood."

"Haha, that's a good boy. Now go back to your dorm. Remember, we still have other classes to attend to."

"Yes, mom." Draco said and rolled his eyes at her.

Pansy smacked his arm, but couldn't help from smiling. Draco got up and walked towards the door. He turned around right before he was about to leave.

"Hey Pansy?"

"Yea?"

"Thanks for talking with me. It's good to know I have someone who has a brain to talk to. I don't know what would've happened if I went to Crabbe or Goyle."

Pansy smiled at his comment. She got up and went over to hug him.

"Your welcome."

Draco walked out the room and down the stairs. He turned to see Harry sitting by the fire reading a book.

"See ya, Potter." Draco said as he walked out the door.

"Uh…bye?" Harry said, although it was too late since Draco already walked out the door. He was shocked that Draco hadn't given him a sly remark or challenged him to a duel.

Pansy walked down the stairs with Isabelle and sat down next to Harry. Isabelle climbed onto Harry's lap and tried to peer over the book that Harry was reading.

"What's up with Malfoy?" Harry asked Pansy, as he put the book lower so the little girl on his lap could see the pictures.

"Nothing's wrong with him. Why do you ask?"

"He's acting quite strange…I think he's plotting something against me."

"Seriously, Potter, you need to relax. No one is plotting anything against you. Come on, We have to get ready for our next class."

Draco walked back to his dorm to find that it was empty. He walked up the stairs and into their children's room, but found that no one was there. He decided that Hermione probably left for class already and brought the kids with her.

But throughout the whole day he hadn't seen her in any of their classes. Where the heck is Granger? It's not like her to miss classes especially on the first day back! Even at dinner he didn't see her. He made sure to look over at the Gryffindor table every minute or so to see if she had arrived, but she never did. He walked back into the dorm expecting to see Hermione studying or taking care of the kids, but again he was wrong. The room was empty.

"Where is she?" Draco whispered to himself. It was almost 11 o' clock and he still hasn't seen her since that morning. He sat on the couch and lit up the fire place. He decided to work on his assignment for DADA to take his mind away from Hermione, but when 11:30 came rolling by he started to get worried.

"Stupid Granger. Don't tell me she got lost trying to find her way back here." He said to no one in particular.

Suddenly he heard the portrait door swing open and in walked Hermione pushing the stroller with one hand while the other hand was holding all her school assignments and books. She walked down to the living room and threw the books down on the table. She looked at Draco who was staring at her with a worried but angry look on his face.

"Hi." She said to him with a slight hint of confusion in her voice.

"Hi?...Hi!? Is that all you have to say to me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I come back to the dorm finding it empty thinking you already went off to class without me and when I get there, I didn't see you so I thought maybe she's probably running a little late, but you never even showed up! Not to any of the classes! Then, I go to dinner thinking that maybe, just maybe you were there with that Weasley girl, but guess what? You weren't there either!"

"Are you done?"

"No, I'm not done. After dinner, I come back here to an empty room, what a big surprise! I decided to work on my DADA assignment to get my mind off that fact that it was eleven and you still weren't back yet. Finally, at eleven thirty you decided it was a good time to come back, so you casually walk in like it's no big deal that you haven't been to any of your classes and skipped dinner while I've been sitting here worried sick and all you have to say to me is Hi?! Where have you been?"

"Wait, you were worried about me?"

"Don't try to change the subject, Granger. And it's your fault for making me worried. They are my kids too, you know!"

"Oh so now they're your kids too? What a change of heart, Malfoy. This morning you wanted nothing to do with them and now you're telling me that it's my fault for making you worry about them? You're the one that told me to take care of them myself, remember?"

"Well, I've changed my mind."

"Ha! Yea right."

"Seriously, Granger. Actually, I would like to make a truce with you. No more fighting, from this day forward we shall be civil towards one another. So how about it?" Draco stuck out his hand waiting for Hermione to shake on the deal.

Hermione stood there for a moment wondering if she should trust Draco with this. Well, it does mean that he has to help with the kids. I guess it won't be that bad. It's really hard for one person to take care of two babies anyways.

"Alright fine, but you better not back out from this, Malfoy." Hermione said as she shook Draco's hand.

"Deal. So where were you all day?"

"Well, after you left me so rudely this morning, I was trying to take care of these two by myself, but found it rather difficult when both won't stop crying, which by the way is your fault." Draco rolled his eyes but continued to listen.

"So I went to look for Ginny to help me calm them down. I found her in her dormitory and she agreed to help. It was such a hassle taking care of two crying babies. It took forever for them to stop crying and once they stopped, they eventually, after about an hour, fell asleep. Ginny and I were so worn out from trying to get them to calm down that we fell asleep ourselves. We slept through all the classes and woke up during dinner time. I had to hurry and go find all the professors to tell them why I had missed class and get my assignments. That gave me no time to go eat. Finally, after getting all my books and work, I decided to go to the kitchens to grab some food. I hadn't eaten all day. And now I'm here."

"All this because you couldn't handle taking care of two babies? Why didn't you just come to me? I would've gladly helped you…" Draco said with a big smile on his face, but in return Hermione just glared at him. "Okay, okay. I'll admit I was a bit of a jerk earlier…"

"A bit? How about a big jerk?"

"Don't push it"

"Whatever. You've agreed to help me take care of them now and you can't back out."

"Okay, I get it. Here, let me help you carry them upstairs to bed."

Draco took the baby girl in his arms while Hermione held the boy. They walked upstairs into their children's room and set them down into their own cribs. Both back away slowly as not to wake them up. They stared down at the sleeping angels for a moment until Draco broke the silence.

"Uh…Granger?"

"Could you please call me Hermione? I hate it when you address me by my last name."

"Fine. Her..mi..o..ne…?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Obviously Draco isn't used to calling Hermione by her first name. "Yes, Drayyy…co?"

"What are our babies' names?"

"Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about that! We haven't even given our babies names yet!"

"How can you forget?"

"Well if you hadn't made them cry so much, I would've had time to think about it. Instead I spent the whole time trying to get them to stop."

"Okay, let's stop playing 'Blame Draco Malfoy for everything'."

"But it's true. Whatever, not time for that, let's just think of a name for them."

Draco and Hermione stood there for a while pondering on what name they should give to each of their babies. Tick…Tick…a few minutes have passed and still no one said a word.

"This is harder than I thought" Hermione said.

"I have something."

Hermione looked up at Draco. "What is it?"

"How about Owen and Eleina?"

Hermione smiled. "Owen and Eleina…I like that."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hermione smiled. "Owen and Eleina…I like that."

"Then that's settled."

They both walked out the room to let the kids sleep in peace. They stood outside the room after Hermione closed the door behind them. Neither one said anything, just stood where they were staring at the ground.

"So..I think I'm going to work on my Transfiguration essay." Hermione said before the moment got anymore awkward.

"Ok, I still need to finish my DADA assignment."

Hermione just nodded and headed downstairs, Draco following behind her slowly. They were about to sit down on the couch when they heard the portrait door swing open and in walked Dumbledore.

"Sorry for the interruption, but I need to speak with you, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco looked at Hermione, who just shrugged. He followed Dumbledore outside and they stood in the empty corridor.

"What's wrong, Professor?"

"Mr. Malfoy, this is really difficult for me to say, but you're mother's been murdered." Draco froze, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He just stared at Dumbledore, speechless. "We think you're father had something to do with it since no one's been able to find him. It is a possibility that he fled to avoid being captured. I'm really sorry."

"Is that all?"

"Yes"

"Then, I should go back inside."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, then. But I will be in my office if you need to talk."

Draco walked back inside. He continued walking, ignoring Hermione's questioning look. He walked up the stairs and into the bedroom. Without changing out of his school robes he got into his bed and just laid there.

Hermione saw Draco come inside and was about to ask him what Dumbledore wanted, but when she saw his face she knew she shouldn't say anything. Although his face was emotionless, Hermione knew that something was wrong. She could tell by the way he was so quiet and was not even looking at her. She set her books down and walked up to the bedroom a couple of minutes after Draco. She silently opened the door and stepped inside. She saw him lying on his bed under the covers. He wasn't facing her, but she knew that he was not asleep.

"Draco? Are you alright?"

"Go away, Granger."

"I thought I told you to call me Hermione."

"I said, go away!"

Hermione jumped, she didn't expect him to yell at her like that. Something was definitely wrong with him. She walked towards his bed and put her hand on his shoulder, but Draco violently pushed it away which made Hermione back up.

"What point of 'go away' don't you understand, you stupid mudblood?"

"Well sorry for being concerned about you!"

"I don't need you to be concerned about me. Now go away."

"Fine!"

Hermione was about to walk out the door when she remembered that his room was her room too. She sighed and walked over to her clothes drawer to grab her stuff. She went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas and brushed her teeth. She went back inside, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, obviously forgetting that they shared a room.

"Going to sleep. This is my room too, you know"

"I'm not sleeping in the same room as you"

"Then leave!"

Hermione was shocked when she heard Draco get up and walk out the room. She didn't expect him to give in so easily.  Whatever, Why should I care if he sleeps on the couch? Hermione thought to herself as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Draco walked out the room and into the bathroom. He walked towards the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. My mother is dead, he thought to himself and it finally sunk in. He became angry and punched the wall. He didn't care that his knuckles were bleeding and he just walked out the bathroom towards the couch. He took off his robes and slept only in his boxers. Even though it was cold, Draco didn't want to light the fireplace. He wished his whole body would go numb, so he wouldn't have to feel anything. He lay down on the couch and although it took him awhile, he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke up to the sound of crying. She raced out of her room and into the children's room. She picked up Eleina and rocked the baby in her arms to stop her from crying. She then sat the baby on the couch and walked over to the other crib. She looked down and saw that he was awake, but wasn't crying. She smiled down at Owen and picked him up.

"I wish your sister could be more like you. I don't know how much more of this crying I can take."

She walked over and picked Eleina up in her other arm and walked down stairs to the living room. She walked over towards the couch, but quickly turned away when she saw Draco, who was nearly naked, asleep. She put each baby on their high-chairs and went upstairs to get a blanket for Draco. When she came back down, she noticed that he was awake. She walked down the stairs and placed the blanket on the other couch that was unoccupied.

"You should probably put some clothes on." Hermione said as she went to go look for baby food in the cupboard. She didn't hear an answer from him, just the bathroom door closing. She walked over to her kids with two bottles of baby food.

"You're father is a little cranky," She said to both of them, "but don't worry, mommy's not afraid of him." She smiled at her kids as she opened the bottle and tried to feed them, but they wouldn't eat.

"Come on, Owen. I know baby food is really gross, but you have to eat it. I don't want you to starve." She tried to force it in his mouth but the baby would not open it. "So stubborn, just like your father."

Hermione then tried to feed Eleina, "Hi, baby girl! Want some yummy food?" She was so happy when Eleina opened her mouth to eat, but the food came out just as fast as it went it. Hermione sighed, "What am I going to do?"

"Let me try."

Hermione turned around to see Draco already dressed in his robes. "You should probably go get ready for class."

"Good luck." Hermione told him as she handed Draco the baby food and left to go get dressed. Hermione went upstairs to go change and wash up. When she came back down, she was shocked to see that both food bottles were empty and Draco was wiping Eleina's mouth with a towel.

"How did you get them to eat?"

"They just like me better."

"Are you still angry from last night? What happened, anyways?" Hermione gave him a questioning look, but Draco just ignored her questions.

"I'm hungry, Are we going to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast yet?" Draco asked her as he walked over to sit on the couch. Hermione just sighed, if he wasn't going to tell her then she won't bother asking. It was better to have him like this than yelling at her anyway.

"Well, first I have to get these little ones dressed. Will you help me? I mean, the faster we get it done the faster we can go."

Hermione smiled when she saw Draco get up and walk over towards her and the kids. She picked up Owen and Draco picked up Eleina. They went into their children's room and got them both changed. Then, they packed up all their books and headed out the door.

They walked down the corridor heading for the Great Hall when they saw Ron and Millicent standing in the middle of the walkway arguing about something. They walked closer and saw that Millicent had a baby that was about two in her arms, but there were two more kids about the age of five standing in between her and Ron.

"Hello Ron!...Millicent…" Hermione said to them as her and Draco reached the couple.

"Hello Hermione! Are those your kids?" Ron greeted them.

"No Weasley, they're not. We just found them lying somewhere and thought 'Hey! Let's take them, I've always wanted one!'" Draco snorted. Hermione just smacked his arm.

"Ron, this is Owen and Eleina. And who are these cuties?" Hermione asked as she crouched down next to the kids.

"This is Tyler and Taylor, twins. The one in Millicent's arms is Robyn."

"Oh how cute!" Hermione smiled.

"And there's also Alex, but we don't know where he went. Weasley over here was supposed to be watching him." Millicent added, giving Ron a stern look.

"Hahahaha, you guys have four kids?! Well, I wouldn't have expected anything less coming from a Weasley family, but still, I feel bad for you both. And I thought I had it rough." Draco laughed, receiving glares from the other three.

"Ron, how could you lose your own child?" Hermione asked ignoring Draco's laughs while looking around to see if she could spot a runaway boy.

"I don't know! I turned around for a second and when I turned back around, he was gone!"

"Wait! Does anybody else hear that?" Millicent asked, and everyone quieted down to hear what it was.

"Over there!" Hermione pointed down the corridor and they walked towards a stone statue. Behind the statue they saw a little boy about 3 sitting in a crouched position crying.

"Alex! What's wrong? Why did you run away?" Ron said as he bent down and picked up the child.

"I…I saw a…a…a spider!" Alex said as he dug his face into Ron's robes.

"Ha! Afraid of a spider, just like his father." Draco said, with a smirk on his face, which caused Hermione to hit him again, but this time a lot harder. "Hey! Would you stop doing that?" Draco rubbed his arm. "There's probably a bruise now."

"Well that's what you get!" Hermione said and turned away to face Ron and Alex.

"Hey there, Alex. It's okay to be scared of spiders."

"Who..who are you?" Alex asked, still a little frightened.

"My name is Hermione and this over here is Draco. Don't mind him though, he's a jerk sometimes."

"What's a jerk?"

"A really rude and mean person." Hermione said looking at Draco.

"What?" Draco asked innocently.

Hermione just shook her head at him. "Come on, let's get down to the Great Hall. We've wasted enough time already."

Both families walked towards the Great Hall and once inside, they saw an extra table off to the side where all the other families were sitting and assumed that that was where they were suppose to sit too. They walked to the table and sat down in the middle. Hermione sat next to Harry while Draco sat on the opposite side next to Pansy.

"Hello Hermione. A little late?"

"Sorry, did I miss anything?"

"Well, you did miss Dumbledore's announcement, but it wasn't too important."

"What was it?"

"He just announced that the school provided an extra table for the sixth year students in the Family Life class because it would make the sitting arrangements easier since the couples consisted of both Slytherins and Gryffindors. Also, there would be a children's center where you could drop off your kids when you go to class, just so they won't distract you from school work."

"Thanks Harry."

"Your welcome."

"Oh and this is Owen. The little girl that Malfoy's holding is Eleina."

"Aw, Hermione. They look just like you and Malfoy. How cute." Harry joked while making a gag face to Ron who just laughed.

"Don't be mean, Harry. Where are your kids?"

"I only have one. Isabelle. She's sitting next to Pansy."

Hermione looked over at the little girl sitting across from her and waved. But Isabelle just hid behind Pansy taking little peaks at Hermione.

"She's a little shy." Pansy said to Hermione.

"Oh, well that's okay then."

They finished eating their breakfast and got up to go to their first class, but first they needed to go drop off the kids at the children center.

The children center was huge. There was a big window on the opposite side which really brightened up the room. There were also beds and cribs for nap time, about a million toys or so it seemed, and a small kitchen in the corner just incase some of the children got hungry. The room was split into two sections. The left side section was for the older kids, around four to five year olds, while the right side section was for the younger kids, one to three year olds. There were five young women and two older women inside who took care of the children.

"Wow, it must be terrible to have to work here." Hermione said looking around at all the crying babies and misbehaving kids.

"Yea, well someone's gotta do it." Draco said and walked over to one of the older ladies carrying a clipboard. "Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy and I'm here to drop of my kids."

"Oh yes, Mr. Malfoy. What are your children's names?"

"This is Eleina and his name is Owen."

"Thank you very much. You can set them down over there" The lady pointed towards the right side of the room and wrote down their names. "You can come pick them up whenever you're ready. We also have overnight stays just incase you have a really big project or something and don't have time to watch over them. Just make sure you let us know." Draco and Hermione thanked her and walked over to the right section. One of the girls working there walked up to them.

"Hello! My name is Alice. Here, let take these two from you." Alice said as she took Owen and Eleina from the parents. "You better get going or you'll both be late for class." And with that she walked away. Hermione was about to say something, but Draco pulled her hand and walked out of the children center.

"Hey! I just wanted to say bye to them."

"You'll see them later. We're going to be late for Potions if we stall any longer."

They walked down to the dungeons towards their Potions class. All the students were already there which left only one spot left for Draco and Hermione. They sat together in the back of the room when Snape walked into class.

"Today we will be making a sleeping potion that causes the person who drinks it to sleep for 3 days straight. You'll be working with the person sitting next to you, copy down the ingredients and start. When you finish, pour the potion into a jar and label it with your names. Turn them in at the end of class. You may begin." With that, Snape sat down at his desk in the front of the room and started working on something else. Students wrote down the ingredients and got up to get their supplies.

"I'll go get the ingredients." Draco said and got up. Hermione watched as he went to go pick up a jar from the cupboard when she noticed that his hand was covered with gashes. She watched him carry all the ingredients back to their desk and stared at his hand when he sat down.

"What happened?" Hermione asked and pointed to his hand that had red scratch marks.

"Nothing."

"Oh so those scratches appeared out of nowhere? Draco, just tell me what happened."

Draco sighed, "I'm not ready to talk about it yet, but I promise I'll tell you later, so will you please stop asking?"

Hermione could tell that he was getting rather annoyed with her and decided to just agree with him.

"I'm sorry." Hermione said softly a moment later.

"For what?"

"Being nosey, I guess."

"Just forget it."

They continued with their potion and by the end of the class, every student had finished and began to pour the potion into the jars. Each pair turned in the potion to Snape and walked out of the classroom to their next class. Hermione had Transfiguration while Draco went to DADA.

"I'll see you later" Hermione said once they got out of the classroom. Draco just nodded and walked away in the opposite direction. She walked towards the Transfiguration room when all of a sudden she felt something hit her on the side and caused her to crash into the wall. She fell down on the floor and put her hand to her head to see that she was bleeding.

The last thing she heard was, "Hermione, are you alright?!" Before she blanked out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The last thing she heard was, "Hermione, are you alright?!" Before she blanked out.

Harry bent down to check on his friend, with Ron was standing behind him.

"Look what you did, Zabini!" Ron yelled at the Slytherin standing a few steps away from them. "You almost killed Hermione!"

"Well, it wasn't my fault you moved out of the way!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Harry yelled out of frustration. "I'm taking Hermione to the Hospital Wing. Ron, are you coming?"

"Of course!" Ron said as he followed Harry. "You better give her an apology once she wakes up, Zabini."

"Whatever." Blaise said as he walked away towards his next class.

Harry and Ron arrived at the Hospital wing with Harry carrying Hermione. He put her down on one of the beds just as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office.

"Oh dear! What happened to Miss Granger?" She exclaimed while trying to see where Hermione was hurt and grabbing potions for her wounded head.

"It's a long story…"Ron began but was cut off by Harry.

"We'll explain it later, but we have to go to class right now."

"Oh of course! Go now, shoo!" Madam Pomfrey said in a rush since she was still occupied with Hermione.

"Will she be alright?" Ron asked with a concern look on his face.

"Yes she will, just a nasty bump to the head, but with a little rest she will be much better. Now off you two go! I don't want you both to be late for class."

"We'll be back at lunch!" Harry said and ran out of the room with Ron right behind him.

* * *

Hermione woke up with a splitting headache. She couldn't remember a thing. And when she tried to sit up her headache worsened so she decided to just lie very still. She looked around and noticed that she was in the Hospital Wing, but she was not alone. When she tried to talk her throat was too dry so nothing came out. The person walked over and poured her a cup of water which she received.

"What are you doing here, Zabini? Actually, why am I here?"

"You don't remember what happened?"

"Obviously not."

"You're here because…" Blaise paused for a moment.

"Because….?" Hermione was beginning to get a bit impatient.

"Because of me"

"What? What did you do to me?

"I didn't mean to hit you really. I was aiming for Weasley."

"What was going on?"

"Well, Weasley started it. He was walking down the corridor with Potter when he tripped and I began to laugh hysterically, but how could you not? He is so damn clumsy. Anyways, he challenged me to duel, what an idiot. I accepted, of course and when he was about to mutter a spell I went to stupefy him, but he moved out of the way causing it to hit you instead. You were walking so close to the wall that the impact of the spell caused you to slam your head against it. And that's why you're here in the Hospital Wing with a headache and a bandage wrapped around your head."

"So, I'm the one that got stuck with the busted head because you and Ron wanted to duel over something as childish as laughing over someone tripping?"

"Yes, basically."

"Ughh, what did I do to deserve this?" Hermione said and put her hands to her head to try to stop her head from hurting even more, which didn't help at all.

"Lighten up, Granger. You're still alive aren't you?" Blaise said and sat down at the end of her bed.

"What are you doing here, anyways?"

"I decided that I should come apologize."

"Yea, right."

"Seriously, I'm sorry for what happened and I only wish that it was Weasley who got hit instead of you."

"Oh thanks, that makes me feel much better."

"Your welcome" Blaise smiled.

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know."

Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to move into a more comfortable position, but closed her eyes tightly as she felt a sharp pain run through her head again.

"Granger, are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. You can leave now." Hermione said with her eyes still closed.

"But I just got here."

Hermione opened her eyes to see Draco standing next to Blaise. He was carrying her book bag with him and she watched as he set it down next to her bed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about what happened earlier and I decided to come check up on you, since you're supposed to be my wife and all. I'm glad you're okay, I mean, I don't want to have to take care of the kids myself."

"I'm still hurt you know."

"So…"

"Wow, you're so clueless."

At that moment Harry and Ron ran inside the Hospital Wing and came face to face with Draco and Blaise.

"What are you two doing to Hermione? She's already hurt, is that not enough for you guys?" Ron said with fists clenched.

"Relax Weasley, I just came to apologize to Granger and Draco here just wanted to see if she's okay. No need to go crazy." Blaise said as he headed for the door. "See ya" And with that he left.

"Hermione, how are you feeling? Do you need anything? A glass of water, food, another pillow.."

"Harry! I'm fine, thank you."

"Well, I'm just glad we came here in time," Ron said, "Zabini and Malfoy, those evil gits, would've probably…"

"Weasley, I'm still here."

All three turned to see Draco still standing at the end of the bed.

"Why are you still here Malfoy?" Harry asked Draco and began to walk over to him.

"Am I not aloud here, Potter?" Draco said, not backing away as Harry got closer.

"Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, please refrain from fighting in my Hospital Wing." Madam Pomfrey said as she walked over to Hermione.

"Drink this, Miss Granger. It will help you with your headaches." Hermione drank the potion and instantly felt her headache go away, but she began to feel very sleepy and after a few seconds, she fell into a deep sleep. Madam Pomfrey smiled, but it quickly faded when she turned around to look at Ron, Harry, and Draco.

"Miss Granger needs more rest and she won't be able to have that with you three in here. You may come back later, but for now, out!"

All three boys slowly exited the room. They stared at each other for a moment before Draco walked off towards the Great Hall for lunch while Harry and Ron walked to their dorms.

* * *

Hermione woke up for the second time that day in the Hospital Wing when she felt something crawl over her. She opened her eyes and saw a small figure sitting on her legs. She smiled when she realized that it was Eleina. She looked over and saw that Draco was asleep on the bed next to her with a sleeping Owen in his arms. She sat up and picked up Eleina.

"Hello, my darling. I'm glad your father remembered to pick you and your brother up from the children center. I thought he would've forgotten about you two."

"Why would you think that?" A sleepy Draco said as he slowly got up so he wouldn't wake up Owen.

"Well, you aren't a very responsible person."

"What do you mean? I'm very responsible."

"Oh yea, coming from someone who left a one year old baby on a bed where she could easily fall off while he goes to sleep."

"Hey, she was asleep when I brought her in here, I didn't know she would wake up so fast."

"Okay fine. Let's not argue again."

There was an awkward silence as they sat in the Hospital Wing, both not knowing what to say.

"So…How are you feeling?" Draco broke the silence.

"Much better, actually. Do you mind asking Madam Pomfrey if I'm alright to leave?"

Draco nodded and was about to get up when Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. Draco went over and picked up Eleina from Hermione so that Madam Pomfrey could check on Hermione. She removed the bandage from Hermione's head which revealed a small pink bump on the side of her forehead.

"Good news, Miss Granger, you may leave, but you still need a little more rest. I'm sure you'll be as good as new tomorrow morning." Madam Pomfrey said and helped Hermione get up.

"Thank you." Hermione replied. She walked over to Draco who handed Eleina to her as he picked up Owen, who was still asleep. They left the Hospital Wing and walked to their dorm.

Once inside, Hermione placed Eleina on the floor to crawl around and play with her toys while she laid on the couch. Draco put Owen in the extra crib that was next to the couch instead of upstairs just incase he woke up. He sat on the other couch and looked at Hermione.

"What?" Hermione asked, feeling a bit nervous from Draco's stare.

"Nothing." Draco said and quickly looked away. He stared into the fireplace wondering if it was a good time to talk to Hermione about his tragedy. Talking to her might be helpful, he thought, but I don't want her to see the weaker side of me. He knew that once he starts talking about his mother, he would break. She was one of the few people that he really cared about. Draco sighed and closed his eyes.

It was Hermione's turn to stare at Draco. She knew he was hiding something and being the person that she was, she wanted to know what he was keeping from her. She watched as he stared into the fireplace. He looked so deep in thought and Hermione wished that he would just let her help him in whatever he was struggling through. She watched as Draco closed his eyes.

"Malfoy…" Hermione said quietly, unsure if she was supposed to address him while he was in thought. Draco slowly opened his eyes and looked at Hermione.

"What is it?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"…"

"Look, whatever is bothering you just say it. I promise I won't get mad, did you do something to Harry? Ron?"

"This has nothing to do with them."

"Then what is it? You can tell me. I won't say a thing to anyone if you don't want me to and honestly, I can't stand you being like this."

He looked in her eyes and surprised himself when he felt that he could trust her. There was something about Hermione Granger that he's never noticed before or never got the chance to anyway. Draco took a moment to gather his thoughts, but he finally let everything out. He told Hermione about what Dumbledore had said to him the other night. He told her how he was so shocked he couldn't even speak and he didn't know what to do with himself. He just needed time to think.

"Oh Draco…I…I'm so sorry." Hermione wanted to cry, she couldn't believe that Draco was going through this. She couldn't even begin to imagine how it would feel to be in Draco's position.

Hermione walked over to Draco and to his surprise, she sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. Draco didn't know what to do. He sat there for a moment still a bit in shock. Should he hug back or just let her hug him, but before he could do anything else, Owen began to cry. They both got up, Hermione let go of Draco and rushed towards the crib to care for the crying baby. Draco watched as Hermione rocked the baby in her arms. He watched as Hermione began to smile when Owen stopped crying and she kissed him on the nose. And from the moment Hermione hugged him to her now caring for the baby boy, he knew that Hermione was a genuine person. Even if it was something as simple as a hug, it helped comfort him and he was thankful for that.

Hermione looked up from Owen to Draco, but her smiling faded and turned into shock when she saw something behind him.

"Draco…look…" Hermione pointed towards the coffee table on the opposite end. He turned around to see Eleina slowly stand up by herself, getting help balancing from the table, and take a few steps forward before falling down again. Draco walked over and picked her up. He smiled.

"That's my girl."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Hermione felt the crisp October breeze surround her as she headed towards the lake. It was Saturday evening and she had decided to take her kids down towards the lake for a small picnic since they had never experienced being outside the Hogwarts castle before. Hermione thought it would be nice for them to have some fresh air and experience nature. She had asked Draco to join them but he had Qudditch practice so it was just them three.

Several days have passed since the day Draco told Hermione about his mother's death. Draco has been getting better over the situation as each day passed. He and Hermione also have been getting along quite well, with an occasional fight here and there, but that's normal for the couple. Although they still weren't the best of friends, they weren't cursing at each other every time they were in the same room.

Hermione held Owen in her arm and was holding a basket with the other hand while Eleina walked a few feet ahead of her. Ever since Eleina had learned to walk it had been her favorite thing to do. She would not allow Hermione or Draco to hold her because she wanted to walk. Hermione was delighted at this. She decided that it was time for Owen to learn to walk and would teach him everyday. Eventually he got the hang of it, but unlike his sister, he would rather have Hermione or Draco carry him.

"Eleina, sweetie, stay close to mommy." Hermione yelled towards the little girl who had began to walk faster. Eleina stopped at her mother's voice and turned around, but as Hermione got closer to her she turned back around and started walking again, giggling as if Hermione was chasing her. Hermione smiled at her daughter.

She found a spot perfect spot underneath a big tree that provided a good amount of shade. She dropped the basket to the floor and had to run after Eleina before she got too far. The little girl had failed to notice that her mom stopped walking, mainly because she was in front of Hermione. After grabbing a hold of Eleina's hand and walked her towards their picnic spot, she pulled out her blanket and placed it on the ground. She set Owen down on the blanket and took out his favorite toy, a green dragon rattle, for him to play with and sat down on the blanket herself.

Eleina began to wander off again, but Hermione knew something that would get her back towards their spot. She looked through her basket and pulled something out.

"Mmm, Owen gets to eat yummy apple sauce!" Hermione said. At that moment Eleina came scrambling back towards her.

"Mommy, applesauce." Eleina tugged on Hermione's jacket. Hermione was so thankful for the children center. Not only do they take care of the children while their parents were in class, but they also taught the kids how to talk and walk. It was a great thing for the parents since they had schoolwork to deal with and pretty much had no time.

After eating, Hermione decided to read a picture book to her kids. She had been reading to them every night before bed time because she believed that it would help them become more intelligent. She was about to begin the story when a shadow approached them. Hermione quickly grabbed her kids and looked behind her.

"Jeez Granger, no need to get scared. I'm not going to attack you or anything."

"Zabini, what are you doing here? I already forgave you for what you did."

"I'm not here because of that." Blaise said and offered himself a seat next to Hermione.

"What happened to Qudditch practice? Where's Malfoy?"

"Draco let us off early. He probably went back up to his dorm to shower." Blaise explained as he ate some of the grapes that Hermione had put out on the blanket.

"Why are you here, then? Shouldn't you be taking a shower too?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"Talk? Why?"

"Granger, would you stop answering me with questions? You're just full of them aren't you?" Blaise said, a little irritated.

"Sorry, I'm just curious as to why you would want to talk to me."

"Honestly, I don't know the answer to that myself. Ever since that day in the Hospital Wing, I can't get you out of my mind. I was there after Potter and Weasley left and I couldn't really talk to you, so I had to wait. You looked so peaceful when you were asleep, like an angel."

Hermione was speechless. She didn't know whether she should be flattered or creeped out.

"I'm sorry; I don't know what's gotten into me." He said to her, as he patted Owen on the head and began to stand up to leave.

"Wait!" Hermione blurted out, and instantly regretted it. She didn't know what to say as she watched him turn around to face her.

"What?"

"Um…would you like to join us for a while longer?" Stupid, stupid Hermione, she thought to herself, why are you asking him to join you?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

* * *

Hermione returned to her dorm a few minutes before dinner. She had spent the rest of her picnic chatting with Blaise. Something she didn't think she would do in a million years, but she was quite surprised with him. He didn't seem like the evil git that she was use to. After they talked he even offered to walk Hermione back to her dorm, but she told him that he should probably get back to Lavender.

Hermione gave the old lady in portrait the password and walked inside to see Draco sitting on the couch, looking as if he had been waiting for their return. She set the basket down on the table and put Owen on the floor. Hermione watched as Eleina hurriedly walked towards Draco and he picked her up in his arms and set her down on his lap. Eleina sure loves Draco, Hermione thought and began to unpack the basket.

"How was the picnic, Granger?" Draco asked.

Even after Hermione insisted that he should call her by her first name, he would still refer to her by her last. Draco wanted to call her 'Hermione' but he felt a little strange since for the past five years, he's been use to calling her Granger or mudblood. Hermione understood where he was coming from and didn't force him on it, but if he wasn't going to call her by her first name, then she wasn't going to refer to him by his either.

"It was nice. I'm sure Owen and Eleina enjoyed it. I had a little surprise myself, actually."

"Oh? And what was that?" Draco raised his eyes, curious as to what Hermione's surprise was.

"Zabini came over towards us. At first I was shocked that he came over and thought that maybe he wanted to cause some trouble, but he actually just wanted to talk. Surprisingly, he was rather nice. We ended up talking for a few minutes before I decided that it was time to go."

Draco was shocked himself. What the hell is Blaise doing? Since when was he so into Granger? I need to have a little talk with him.

"That's good to hear," Draco said as he got up with Eleina in his arms. "We should probably get down to the Great Hall for dinner. I heard that Dumbledore has an announcement."

"Okay."

Draco put Eleina down on the floor, but still held on to her hand as they walked towards the portrait hole. Owen, seeing his sister holding on to Draco's hand, became a little jealous the she was getting all the attention from their father and walked to Draco's other hand and grabbed it. Hermione laughed, while Draco just smiled down at the kids.

* * *

They walked into the Great Hall and sat down at their designated table. Draco spotted Blaise and Lavender walk in with their two kids and sat down across from him. Blaise noticed that Draco was watching him.

"What?" Blaise whispered to him.

"Let's talk, after dinner."

Blaise gave him a confused look but nodded his head.

After awhile of eating and chatting with friends, Dumbledore stood up in front of the school for his announcement.

"Could I have all of your attention, please." He began as the entire Great Hall fell quiet.

"I have special announcement. This year we will be holding a Halloween ball here at Hogwarts."

Every student started murmuring to their friends, discussing what they should wear or who they would go with.

"Ahem!"

Once again, the hall became quiet.

"Now, since this is a Halloween ball, a costume is required. Students will be allowed to visit Hogsmeade to purchase anything they need. Next week, students will have a day off from classes for their trip starting with the first and seconds years on Monday, third and fourth years on Tuesday, fifth years on Wednesday, sixth years on Thursday, and finally seventh years will have their turn on Friday. The ball will be held on Halloween night which is in two and a half weeks." Dumbledore paused as he waited for the students to finish cheering.

"One last thing before I let you all return to your dinner, I need to speak with the sixth year students who are currently in the Family Life class on Monday after breakfast. Please report to the classroom we first met in for a short meeting. That is all. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your meal"

Once Dumbledore ended his announcement the Great Hall filled with students' voices again, but at the table with the sixth year students in the Family Life class everyone was staring at each other wondering what Dumbledore's meeting would be about.

After dinner, Hermione and Draco walked back to their dorm with Owen and Eleina.

"I'm going to give Owen and Eleina a bath." Hermione said while holding on to both child's hands and walking up the stairs.

"Oh, um..do you need help?"

"No I think I'll manage." Hermione said and smiled at his offer.

"Okay, well I need to go have a talk with Blaise, but I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Talk about what?" Hermione asked right when she was about to enter the bathroom. She wondered if it was because of Blaise's encounter with her that evening.

"Nothing, it doesn't concern you." He lied. Hermione nodded as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Draco walked down the corridor and towards the entrance. Before he left dinner, he informed Blaise that they would meet ten minutes after. As he approached the entrance, he saw Blaise leaning against the wall, watching him.

"Glad you made it early." Draco said once he reached Blaise.

"Yea, well I had nothing better to do. So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about? Let me guess, does it have to do with Granger?"

"How did you know?"

Blaise snorted. "I'm not an idiot, Draco."

"Why were you talking to her?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know she was off limits."

"Answer the question, Blaise."

"Because I wanted to, okay? I just wanted to. We had a nice conversation and I'm sure she enjoyed it as well."

"Oh, so now you are best friends with her. How nice!" Draco rolled his eyes.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Me? Angry? Maybe it's because you decided to befriend Granger of all people! You should just stay away from her, understood?" Draco said and turned around to walk away not waiting for his reply.

"Why should I stay away from her? Are you jealous?" Blaise yelled towards him.

Draco stopped dead in his tracks. Was he jealous? Why would he be? It's not like he had any feelings towards silly little Granger. Or maybe…Draco shook the thoughts out of his head. He decided to not answer Blaise and continue walking back towards his dorm not even glancing back.

* * *

Once he got back inside, the living room was empty. He walked up the stairs and into the children room where he found Hermione reading them a picture book like she did every night. He watched how Hermione would smile every time she finished a sentence and when one of the kids would point at the picture while trying to figure out what that was.

Hermione finished the book and looked up to see Draco leaning against the door frame. He walked over towards them and sat next to her on the couch.

"Granger, can we talk?"

"Sure. Let me just put these two to bed."

"Let me." Draco said and he picked up both kids.

Hermione smiled at his offer and watched as he set both of them in their cribs. It was nice to see a softer side of Draco once in a while and whenever he was around their kids, that's when Hermione saw it the most.

They both walked out of the room and down towards the couch. Hermione sat down on one of the couches while Draco paced next to the fireplace.

"Don't you want to sit?" Hermione asked with raised eyes.

"I'm fine, this won't take long."

"Okay…."

"Look, I'm just going to blurt this out, so here it goes." Draco paused, contemplating on whether he should say it or not.

"What is it, Malfoy? Spit it out."

"Do you like Blaise?" Draco said rather quickly.

"What!?" Hermione was thrown off by this question, but after a few seconds she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Draco stopped pacing and stared at the girl laughing in front of him.

"What's funny is the fact that you think that I would have feelings for someone who almost killed me. That's what's so funny." Hermione said as her laughing died down.

"Well, Blaise was telling about the happy little conversation during your picnic."

"Oh, so you lied to me."

"What are you talking about?."

"You told me that you were going to talk to Blaise, but you said that it didn't have anything to do with me."

"It didn't….until he brought it up!" Draco secretly applauded himself for recovering from the lie.

"Yea, I'm sure he did," Hermione said sarcastically, "Don't worry; it was just an innocent talk. I don't like him any more or any less than I did before."

"Well….good." Draco said and began to walk up the stairs to their bedroom. "I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed now, goodnight." He said right before he got into the bedroom. Hermione followed him up and walked inside to see him take his robes off. She quickly turned around though once he looked up at her.

"It's okay, Granger. I'm use to girls seeing me topless." He smirked.

"Do you think you could sleep with a shirt on?" Hermione said, slowly turning back around but not looking at him. She walked to her bed and crawled under the blanket. She had already changed into her pajamas earlier.

"Nope. I like sleeping without my shirt on." He replied while he turned off the lights and got into his bed too.

They layed there for a few seconds, before Hermione spoke up.

"Malfoy, why do you care if I have feelings for Blaise?"

Draco's eyes shot up at her question. He didn't exactly know the answer to that. He wanted to ask that question to himself.

Hermione turned her head to look at him, but couldn't really see since her eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet. She waited patiently for his answer, but it never came. She sighed and assumed that he probably fell asleep already and decided that she should have some good night sleep too.

Draco was thankful that Hermione didn't continue to ask him. He knew that if he stayed silent maybe she would think that he fell asleep, which she did. Draco closed his eyes again and slowly drifted off to sleep wondering what the answer to that question might be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Hermione woke up on Monday morning to the bright sun light that poured through the window. Sunday had passed uneventfully and Hermione was ready to get back to classes after a relaxing weekend. She looked over towards Draco's bed, but he wasn't there. Slowly getting up, Hermione walked over to the drawer to grab some clothes. She left the bedroom and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Once she was done, she walked downstairs and noticed that Draco was reading a book on the couch. He looked like he was really into the book and was really absorbed in it. Hermione had a bright idea and slowly crept behind him. She slowly lifted up her hands and….

"Mommy!" Owen exclaimed and jumped up and down with his arms in the air signaling for Hermione to pick up him. She hadn't noticed him sitting there and he had spotted her before she had a chance to scare Draco. Hermione groaned at her failed attempt and pick up Owen in her arms. Draco turned around and smirked.

"Granger, that was a sad attempt to scare me."

"What? I almost had you if this little guy didn't see me." Hermione said and gave Owen a kiss on the cheek.

"Actually, I knew you were behind me all along."

"How?! I made sure to be extra sneaky"

"Yea, if you call stomping down the stairs like an elephant sneaky."

"Are you calling me fat? Cause if you're calling me fat as an elephant then….then you're as big as a planet!" Hermione defended herself and walked away towards the other side of the room. Draco chuckled and walked over to her.

"Calm down, I was just implying that I heard you coming down the stairs. You're not fat, no where near it so don't be so sensitive."

"Oh...well, you didn't have to say elephant."

"Okay, I apologize for saying that."

"Good." Hermione said while trying hard not to smile, but couldn't really help herself as a small grin formed on her face.

"We should probably head down to breakfast, remember we have to go to Dumbledore's meeting right after." Draco said, now heading upstairs to grab his books.

"Wait, where's Eliena?" Hermione scanned the room, but there was no sign of the little girl anywhere. Draco stopped just before he was about to walk up the first step and turned around with wide eyes.

"I left her in the bathtub and forgot to take her out!"

"How could you leave a one year old child alone in the bathtub!?" Hermione screamed and put Owen down on the couch as she raced passed Draco into the bathroom, but when she looked around, it was empty. She instantly slapped herself for falling for Draco's trick. How silly of her to forget that she was in the bathroom right before so how could've Draco put Eleina in the bathtub. Hermione became embarrassed as she walked out the bathroom and saw Draco standing there laughing hysterically with Eleina standing by his side with a look of confusion.

But Hermione's embarrassment quickly turned into anger as she stomped over to Draco and punched his arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Draco said while holding his hands up for protection from Hermione's incoming punches.

"That was for pulling that trick on me and making me act like an idiot and this," she punched him again, "is for almost giving me a heart attack."

"Okay, okay, would you stop?! I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I needed to get you back for what you did earlier."

"But it didn't even work when I tried to scare you! You knew I was there."

"Yes, but you tried to and that's enough for me to get you back."

"Fine, but beware, I will get you for this. Sleep with one eye open, Draco Malfoy." Hermione whispered that last part to him as she walked backed down the stairs to grab Owen. Draco laughed and followed her. They both gathered their books and supplies and headed out the portrait hole to the Great Hall for breakfast.

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with students' voices as they chatted over breakfast. Hermione and Draco walked over to their table and sat down next to their friends. It was a nice peaceful breakfast until a loud argument was heard at the entrance of the Great Hall. All the students turned their heads to see Ron and Millicent yelling at each other over what seemed like a missing child.

"Weasley! How many times do I have to tell you to keep an eye on our children?! We're probably going to end up losing all four of them by the end of this term because of you!"

"Why is everything always my fault?!"

"Are you serious? Are you really asking me that question?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing, singing?!"

"Weasley, if you don't shut it I'm going to…" Millicent began but was interrupted by a tug on her robes. She looked down to see a small boy with red hair looking up at her.

"Mommy, why are you yelling?"

"Oh goodness! Alex where did you go off to?" Millicent grabbed her child and squeezed him in a tight hug.

"I saw really pretty unicorn picture and I went over to talk to her."

"Never ever walk away from us, do you understand?" Ron said. He walked over towards them right after Millicent had picked up Alex. The boy nodded, a little frightened by Ron's tone. They walked over to the table and sat down to eat their breakfast. Draco smirked at Ron who sat across from him.

"Jeez Weasley, you should take some classes on how to be a better parent."

"Don't talk to me, Malfoy." Ron responded through gritted teeth.

Draco was about to add another sly remark when Hermione elbowed him and gave him a stern look. He glared at her, but left Ron alone and continued to eat his breakfast while feeding Eleina, who was sitting on his lap, as well. Hermione began to scoop spoonfuls of porridge into Owen's mouth while she ate, too.

After breakfast, they dropped the kids off at the children center and headed to the classroom for Dumbledore's meeting. They ended up being one of the first couples to arrive and took a seat in the middle of the room. It didn't take long until all the couples had arrived and Dumbledore arrived shortly afterwards. He walked up to the front of the classroom and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting. I promise it will be short and you may go back to classes afterward."

"Take all the time you want, Professor!" A student yelled from the back of the room.

Dumbledore chuckled at the comment and continued on without a response to it.

"First of all, I wanted to talk about your journals. As you know I've been reading them every week and I'm so glad that this project has been going well for all of you. I've read at least two good entries from every student which makes me extremely happy because it let's me know that this has been going well and hasn't been a waste of time. And since I've been getting a good response from this, I think you all would like to know that now the journals are not required. I know it's on the contract, but since I've been getting good responses it confirms that this program was a good idea. "

Students cheered at this announcement. They were happy because not having to write in the journal meant one less assignment to worry about.

"However, if you would like to continue writing in them, it would be fine with me." Dumbledore continued.

"Now, on to the next thing, Saturday evening I made an announcement concerning the Halloween ball. You all are invited of course, but the only thing is that you may not bring your kids. It's much too dangerous having so many students out and it would be rather hard for you all to have a good time if you had to watch over them. The children center will be open that night just for this occasion so feel free to drop them off there."

"Aww, but I was looking forward to dressing them up in little costumes!" Parvati said with a glum look on her face.

"Not to worry Miss Patil, that was the next thing on my list," Dumbledore responded, a twinkle in his eye. "I'm sure most of you would like to have a party of some sort that could involve the children so I'm allowing one the evening before the day of the ball. It will only be a small simple party since there are only a few of you, so there is no need to dress up too fancy, save that for the ball, but of course you may dress up your kids in a costume if you would like. It would still be a Halloween theme, but more of a children environment."

Most of the students responded well to Dumbledore's news and happily whispered to their friends about how cute their kid would like in a little cat or pumpkin costume, but there were still some groans, mainly from the boys.

"Are there any questions?" Dumbledore asked as he looked around at the students with no raised hands and continued, "Well then you are all excused. Thank you again for taking the time out of your class for this meeting. Have an exceptional day." With that, the students all got up and filed out of the classroom, but walked extra slow to waste more time.

Hermione and Draco walked out of the room together, but Hermione stopped suddenly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she looked up and saw Blaise smiling back at her. She gave him a confused look, but returned the smile. Draco, who had walked ahead, stopped when he noticed that Hermione was no longer walking beside him. He looked back and frowned when he saw Blaise and Hermione together. He walked back just in time to hear Blaise ask Hermione to be his date for the Halloween Ball. Draco and Blaise stared at Hermione, waiting for her reply, both wanting to hear the complete opposite answer.

Hermione stared at both of the boys standing in front of her. _I should probably say yes, I mean I don't have a reason not to, _Hermione thought and turned to look at Draco…_but Malfoy…wait, why does it matter how Malfoy feels. We are supposed to be a couple, but the contract doesn't say anything about having to attend parties together. _Hermione decided she better make the decision quick since they were already half an hour late for their class and didn't want to miss anymore of the class time.

"Um..sure, Blaise. I'll be your date." Hermione said, giving him a weak smile.

"Great! Well, I'll see you two later." Blaise said as he walked off in the other directions towards Divination.

Hermione looked at Draco, who had a frown on his face. He turned and walked away without saying a word to her. Hermione held a confused face as she watched him walk down the corridor. _I wonder why he's upset_, she thought, but quickly brushed her thought away as she ran to the Herbology room hoping that she didn't miss too much work.

* * *

Draco walked towards the Divination room slowly so he wouldn't catch up to Blaise. He thought about what had just happened, feeling a little sick to his stomach that Hermione had agreed to be Blaise's date to the ball. _Why should I care if Granger wants to go to the ball with Blaise? _He thought suddenly, as he entered the Divination room ignoring Professor Trelawney's stare. _If she wants to go with Blaise, then she should._

He sat next to Pansy who obviously got there earlier than he did. She looked at him strangely which made Draco a little uneasy.

"What?" Draco asked in a whisper.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong. Why would you think something's wrong?"

"Draco, I've known you for how long? I can tell just by looking at you that something's on your mind, now tell me what it is."

"Honestly, it's really nothing."

"Is it the fact that Blaise asked Granger to be his date for the Halloween Ball and she accepted?"

"Wait..how did you know he asked her?"

"Well, Blaise came in here grinning like an idiot, so I asked him why he had a dumb smile plastered on his face and he told me what happened."

Draco glared at the back of Blaise's head who was sitting at the table in front of him.

"Draco? Hello?" Pansy waved her hand in front of Draco to get his attention back.

"Sorry," Draco replied as he snapped back into reality. "It's ridiculous, really. I don't even know why it bothers me. I'm probably getting sick or something and it's putting me in a bad mood."

"I don't think you're getting sick, Draco. Getting jealous is more like it."

"Why does everyone think that I'm jealous? Because I'm not. I have no reason to be jealous."

"Are you sure, Draco? Are you absolutely positively sure?" Pansy raised her eyes at him.

"Yes! Now will you leave me alone?"

"Okay, okay. Whatever you say." Pansy said as she returned her attention back to Professor Trelawney.

_I'm not jealous,_ Draco thought to himself or rather, tried to convince himself.

* * *

Hermione rushed into the Herbology room just as Professor Sprout was handing out pots of strange looking plants to each student.

"Ah, Miss Granger, nice to have you finally join us."

"Sorry Professor." Hermione said and walked over towards Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, what took you so long? We walked from the same classroom and still made it fifteen minutes before you." Harry asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Yea, Hermione. Usually, you'd be the first one here coming from a meeting that was taking up class time. You'd rush here right after Dumbledore excused us." Ron added.

"I was walking to class right behind you guys, but Zabini stopped me on the way." Hermione told them.

"What? Why? What is that git up to now?" Harry asked protectively.

"He..um..he found my quill that I dropped." Hermione lied. She wasn't ready to tell them about Blaise asking her to the ball just yet, especially since she had accepted. She didn't want them to have a fit in the middle of class, and then everyone would find out.

"Is that all?"

"Yes…Um, we should really finish our assignment. We've already wasted enough time." Hermione avoided eye contact with them and began taking notes on the plant that was in front of her. Harry looked at Ron who just shrugged and continued on working. Harry just sighed and followed his friend.

The rest of their classes flew by and Hermione was thankful that Ron and Harry didn't question her further about Blaise. They ate lunch quickly so that they could get back to their dorms to relax. Hermione hadn't seen Draco since that morning. She had hoped to see him during lunch. When he didn't show up, she began to worry.

Heading back to her dorm, Hermione stopped by the children center to pick up Eleina and Owen, but inside she didn't see them anywhere. She began to panic and rushed towards one of the ladies standing near the door.

"Excuse me, where are my children?"

"Names?"

"Owen and Eliena."

"Let's see…oh yes, Mr. Malfoy arrived earlier to pick them up."

"Oh okay, thank you." Hermione smiled her thanks and left the a little confused. Draco and her had made a deal that they would take turns picking up the kids everyday after classes and today was her day, so why did he decide to do it?

Hermione walked back to her dorm, gave the old lady in the portrait their password, and walked in. The room was empty. She was about to leave to look for them, but heard laughter coming from upstairs and hurriedly walked in the room. Inside she saw Draco sitting on the floor with Eleina and Owen, who were playing their toys. She walked in and sat down next to them. Draco looked at her, a little startled. He had obviously been thinking about something and didn't notice Hermione had come inside.

"I thought it was my turn to pick them up." Hermione said.

"Sorry, I should've told you before hand that I was going to."

"I didn't see you at lunch."

"Wasn't hungry."

Hermione looked at Draco who was staring at the doll he had in his hands. _What's wrong with him,_ she thought to herself. He looked so out of it.

"So…you never really told me how you felt about me going to the ball with Zabini." Hermione said, trying to start up a conversation, but Draco wasn't in the mood, especially if it was about her and Blaise.

"I don't care, good for you both. I'm going to take nap, wake me up when it's time for dinner." Draco stood up and left the room without another word. Hermione frowned when Draco left, she picked up the doll that he was holding and began to punch it.

"Stupid Malfoy and his mood swings." She said while punching the doll at the same time.

"No hitting. Bad mommy." Owen said when he walked over to picked up the doll and gave her a scolding finger. Hermione's bad mood subsided when she looked at the little boy and smiled at him. Her kids always made her feel better whenever she was in a bad mood.

"Owen, what should we dress you up as for Halloween?" She asked him, but it was more like asking herself since Owen turned around to play with his other toys.

"How about you, Eleina?" Hermione turned to her other child. Eleina looked over to her mother when she heard her name.

"Look mommy!" Eleina said and held up one of her dolls, but it seemed to be missing an arm. Looking around on the ground, she found it lying a few inches away from her. Hermione laughed, she got up and walked over to Eleina to pick her up.

"Don't do that to your toys, sweetie." She told her daughter and walked over to Owen just as he let out a yawn. "I think its nap time for you two."

"But I'm not tired." Eleina said, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands. Hermione smiled and pulled Owen up with her other hand. She held on to his hand while they walked over to the cribs. She put Eleina in her crib first and kissed her on the forehead. Then she picked up Owen and did the same.

Hermione walked out of the room, leaving the door a little opened. She walked into her and Draco's bedroom and saw him asleep on his bed. She stared at his sleeping figure for a while before she walked down to the living room to do her Potions assignment. Hermione sat on the couch and opened up her book. After a couple of minutes, Hermione felt a little tired herself. Setting the book down on the table in front of her, she lied on the couch, closed her eyes, and slowly felt herself falling asleep.

* * *

Hermione woke up a few hours later and suddenly realized that she had slept longer than she had wanted. Dinner had probably already started. Quickly getting up, she walked upstairs to wake up Draco, but he wasn't there. She walked over to the children's room where the door was wide open and assumed that Draco had already woken them up. _He needs to stop doing this_, Hermione though just as she heard the portrait hole swing open.

In walked Draco with Owen and Eleina by his side. He was holding a plate of food and a cup with his other hand. Hermione walked down the stairs towards them.

"I got you some food and pumpkin juice." Draco said, setting the plate down on the table and sat down on one of the comfy chairs. Eleina and Owen scrambled over to the couch and climbed up on it.

"Did you eat already?" Hermione asked as she sat down next to her kids and picking up the plate of food.

"Yea, I took these two down to get some dinner. I saw you sleeping and didn't want to wake you."

"Oh…Well, thanks for the food."

Draco just nodded. They sat in silence as Hermione ate, neither one knowing what to say. The only noise going on was Owen and Eleina who had got off the couch and began to chase each other. Hermione finished eating and set the plate down on the table.

"Jeez Granger, you should enter an eating contest or something." Draco said when he saw her put the plate down.

"What? I was hungry."

Draco just laughed as Hermione took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"Are you feeling better?" Hermione asked him and set her cup down.

"Was I sick?"

"No, but earlier you seemed like you were in a bad mood."

"Oh," Draco remembered their brief talk earlier in their children's room, "I wasn't in a bad mood, just tired."

"Okay…"

Eleina ran up to Draco and put her arms up, signaling for him to pick up her. He did and put her on his lap where she began to play with his tie and he looked down at her, brushing her blonde hair with his hand. Hermione smiled at the scene in front of her, but quickly turned when she heard a ripping sound. Owen had grabbed a hold of one of her books that she left on the table and began ripping the pages.

"Owen, stop!" Hermione shot up and grabbed the book from her child which made him start to cry. Hermione sighed as she looked down at the Potions book. _Professor Snape is going to kill me_, she thought.

Draco pulled Eleina off his lap and walked over to comfort Owen.

"Granger, you didn't have to raise your voice like that. You scared him." Draco picked up Owen who immediately stopped crying, but buried his face on Draco's shoulder.

"I know I was a little too loud, but look at the book. It's destroyed." Hermione threw it down on the couch.

Draco took out his wand and aimed it at the book. "_Reparo_"

The book began to lift up and slowly the ripped pages began to slip back inside. Draco walked over to pick it up and threw it towards Hermione who caught it before she got hit in the face.

"There, good as new." Draco said and set Owen down on the ground, but the little boy was still a little scared and held on to Draco's leg.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione said as she flipped through the book and noticed that the book was in fact good as new.

"Because I'm smarter." Draco smirked. Hermione snorted, but had no comment. "Oh, so you agree with me."

"No! I would've thought of that, if I wasn't so frustrated and worried about what Snape would say if he saw it."

"Sure…"

"Shut up!" Hermione glared at him, but she couldn't help herself as a smile grew on her face when Draco turned around to pick up Owen again. She was glad that Draco wasn't in his bad mood. She hated to admit it, but she enjoyed Draco more when he was joking around than when he was trying avoiding her.

"Bed time." Draco said as he walked over to Eleina and stuck out his hand for her to hold.

"Let's have them sleep in our room tonight." Hermione said.

"If you want."

They walked up to their children room and quickly got Owen and Eleina changed into their pajamas, and then went back into their bedroom. Hermione grabbed her pajamas and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. She walked back inside the bedroom to see Draco sitting on his bed with just his pajama pants on. Owen sat next to him under the blanket and Eleina sat on the other side of him.

"Aren't you going to shower?" Hermione asked, walking over to sit on the end of his bed.

"I took one before dinner."

Hermione looked at the three of them before she began to speak.

"Hey, I have to sleep alone?"

"You could sleep here." Draco smirked and patted the spot in front of him.

"In your dreams, Malfoy."

"Why don't you push your bed over so we can connect it to mine."

"Good idea….for once."

Draco rolled his eyes as Hermione stood up and walked over towards her bed. She began to push it, but it barely moved.

"It's too heavy!" She said and plopped down on the bed. Draco sighed and got up. He walked over and pushed the bed over with Hermione on it.

"Grow some muscles, why don't you?" He said and crawled onto the bed again. He put Eleina on the other side of Owen so that the kids were sleeping in between him and Hermione.

Hermione had ignored his comment as she walked over to turn off the lights. She got under the covers and scooted closer to Eleina. She was about to fall asleep when she heard Draco begin to say something.

"I asked Pansy to the Halloween ball during dinner." Draco said suddenly. Hermione turned her head towards Draco's direction.

"Oh…that's nice. It's fun to go with a good friend." Hermione replied.

"Yea…are you okay with that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, since we are supposed to be a couple and all."

"Did you forget that Zabini had asked me this morning?"

"Oh right…" Draco said, he did indeed forget.

"Um, well, goodnight."

"Night."

Hermione turned her head to face the ceiling and thought about Draco going to the ball with Pansy. She tried to fall asleep, but couldn't stop thinking about it_. What's wrong with me_, she thought to herself, _Why am I fussing over this? They should be going to the ball together. It's the perfect couple._ But Hermione couldn't get over it. She had begun to feel like something was brewing between them. She couldn't help herself, but felt a pang of jealousy. She abruptly shook the feeling away and closed her eyes, _I need to stop this. He probably doesn't even feel the same way._

But little did she know that Draco felt exactly the same.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Hermione and Draco ran towards the entrance of Hogwarts after they had dropped off Owen and Eleina at the children center. It was Thursday which meant the sixth year students had their Hogsmeade trip. Many were up early to get ready and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast before any of the other years had even woken up. The house elves were told to prepare breakfast early this week just for that very reason. Everyone was excited to take a day off classes, who wouldn't be?

They had finished their breakfast rather quickly, mainly because they arrived late. Unlike most of the couples, Hermione and Draco failed to wake up early. Actually, they were lucky that they had woken up at the time they did. Any later and they would've had to skip breakfast.

As they reached the doors of Hogwarts, a sea of giddy students could be seen. Hermione walked over to Harry and Ron. Draco followed, not surprisingly since Pansy was standing next to Harry.

"Finally! We've been waiting for ages." Ron said as Hermione stood next to him.

"Oh shut it, Weasley." Draco sneered.

Ron glared at him, but didn't have time to say another word as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore, who stood at the top of the stairs, began to talk.

"Now that we have everyone here, you may all head over to Hogsmeade. I expect every single one of you to be back here by six this evening. That will give you more than enough time to shop. No later or there will be consequences. I hope you all enjoy this trip and savior it because I'm not sure there will be another. That is all. Off you go."

* * *

When they arrived at Hogsmeade the first place that Hermione wanted to go to was the costume shop for kids.

"Hermione, I want to go to Honeydukes!" Ron cried.

"Honestly Ron, you need to stop eating so many sweets." Hermione looked at him with a look of discipline.

"Granger, I'll accompany you to the costume shop." Pansy replied.

All four heads snapped over to look at Pansy.

"What?" She asked a little annoyed.

"Do you really want to?" Hermione asked, surprised that Pansy Parkinson wanted to go shopping with her.

"Sure, why not? I want to find a costume for Isabelle anyways."

"Oh okay. Well do you boys want to come?"

Draco, Harry, and Ron all stared at the floor. Obviously they were trying to get out of going costume shopping. Hermione sighed.

"Alright, then you don't have to come, but meet us at Three Broomsticks in 2 hours. And remember that all of us have to wear costumes to the ball, so be sure to stop by a shop." Hermione ordered them and turned around to walk to the costume shop with Pansy. The three boys watched as Hermione and Pansy walked in to the shop.

"As much as I would love to stand around with the two of you," Draco said sarcastically, "I'm off to do a little shopping myself." And with that Draco walked off.

"I hate that ferret face." Ron said as him and Harry walked to Honeydukes.

"I feel the same way." Harry replied.

* * *

Hermione and Pansy walked into the costume shop and saw racks and racks of costumes. She's never seen a costume store so enormous in her life. There were costumes for all ages. Excitement filled her as she walked over to the kids section and started rummaging through them. Pansy was off in a different section looking for a costume fit for a three year old.

Hermione saw so many adorable costumes. She giggled to herself when she found a spider costume. _Ron would love this_, Hermione thought. After half an hour, Hermione still hadn't found a costume for Owen or Eleina. She became overwhelmed with all these costumes. She like all of them and had such a hard time deciding. She was looking through the eighth rack when Pansy walked over to her.

"You haven't found a single one yet?" Pansy asked, holding something in her hands.

"I can't decide! They are all so cute." Hermione said.

"Granger, it's just a costume and it's only for one night. They're never going to wear it again so why don't you just pick one."

"Well, I could save it for my kids in the future."

Pansy sighed and began looking through the rack with Hermione, helping her find something, anything. Hermione peaked over at her. She was shocked when Pansy offered to accompany her here and now she was actually helping her?

"You've…changed." Hermione spoke up.

Pansy shrugged. "I guess I have."

"For the better and I'm glad for it."

Pansy looked at Hermione who smiled at her. She didn't want to, but a smile appeared on her face. A year ago, never in a million years would either one of them even think of having a civil conversation together and now here they are, costume shopping together, for their kids.

Hermione didn't mind having Pansy here with her, surprisingly. Although Hermione was never one to hate, Pansy had always been evil towards her so how could she not despise the girl, but now as they stood in the shop together, Hermione felt that maybe Pansy has changed for the better, for good, and maybe it's okay to slowly accept her. It seemed Harry has.

"How about this baby dragon costume for Owen and this fairy one for Eleina?" Pansy said holding up both costumes for Hermione to see.

"Oh, that's perfect! How come I didn't see them before?" Hermione said taking both costumes and inspecting them. Pansy just laughed and they walked over to the counter to pay.

"What did you get for Isabelle?"

"It's an angel costume."

"It's gorgeous."

"Thanks"

After a couple of more stops at different shops, Pansy and Hermione made their way to Three Broomsticks to meet up with the boys. They walked in and found that it was packed with people. Everyone was showing off their costumes to friends, or just plain showing off. They spotted Harry and Ron sitting at a table near the corner and walked over to them, taking a seat.

"Where's Malfoy?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"How should we know? He walked off by himself." Ron said.

Just as Ron finished his sentence, Draco walked in and took a seat between Hermione and Pansy. He held a very neatly wrapped box that looked like it was from a very fancy and expensive shop.

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"My costume."

"That looks like it cost a lot." Ron said, staring at the box.

"It probably is for you, but to me it was nothing." Draco smirked.

"Making fun of the Weasel without me, Draco?"

Everyone looked up and saw Blaise Zabini standing over them.

"What are you doing here, Zabini?" Harry said, with a dangerous tone.

"Just joining my Slytherin friends…and I wanted to ask my date what she's going to wear to the Halloween ball, you know, it's nice to match. So Granger, what are you wearing to the ball?"

Ron, who had been taking a sip of his butterbeer, choked as he heard what Blaise has just said. Hermione's eyes widen. Blaise had just announced to her friends something that was supposed to be kept secret until she was ready to tell them herself. She felt her face get red with embarrassment, or was it anger?

"Hermione, tell me Zabini is lying." Harry said.

"I…"Hermione didn't know what to say. The truth was already out, what more _was_ there to say.

"Well, I think I better leave now." Blaise said, getting up.

"No, I'm leaving." Ron said and looked at Harry, who got up as well.

"Pansy, let's go." Harry said and grabbed her arm so she had to follow. Pansy looked back at Hermione and Draco as they walked out the door. Blaise sat back down and took sip of butterbeer.

"What's up with them?" Blaise asked casually.

"Shut up, Zabini!" Hermione yelled and rubbed her face in frustration.

"What did I do?"

"Ugh..I'm going back to Hogwarts. Malfoy, are you coming?"

Draco got up and left with Hermione.

* * *

"Honeysuckle" Draco gave the old lady their password and walked in. Hermione followed behind with Owen and Eleina at her sides. She plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. _How am I going to explain this to Ron and Harry? They won't even talk to me. Stupid Zabini._

"Are you alright, Granger?" Draco said. He sat on the arm chair next to the couch.

"I'm just thinking of what I'm going to say to Harry and Ron. They probably hate me right now."

"Why would they hate you? It's not like you killed someone."

"Malfoy, I'm going to the ball with Blaise Zabini. A Slytherin, for god's sake! And I didn't tell them, they had to find out from him."

"Hey, what's so bad about Slytherins?"

Hermione just glared at him. She was in no mood to debate with him.

"I'm going to take a nap." Hermione said and walked to the bedroom.

Draco sighed and decided to work on his Transfiguration assignment. _What am I going to do with that girl_, he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Hermione woke up from her slumber an hour later. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she slowly got up to use the bathroom. After a quick shower, Hermione decided to wear jeans and a grey long sleeves shirt. Since they didn't attend classes that day, it wasn't necessary for her to wear school robes. She quickly tied her curly hair in a loose bun and walked out the bathroom.

Outside in the living room, she saw Draco sleeping on the couch. Owen was asleep on his chest and his arm was wrapped around the little boy's back. Eleina was also asleep, but on the other chair. Hermione tiptoed down the stairs and sat on the floor next to the couch, staring at Draco and watched him sleep.

Draco looked so peaceful as he slept. His face looked soft and Hermione had to contain herself from touching his cheek. She giggled at how every time he breathed, Owen would move up and down with him. A piece of hair fell over his eyes, Hermione reached over and slowly pushed it away. Her fingers accidentally brushed along his face which woke him up.

"Granger? What's wrong?" Draco said sleepily. He slowly sat up straight with his eyes still slightly closed as he tried to adjust to the light in the room. Owen stirred in his sleep and woke up. Draco picked him up and set him on his lap.

"Nothing's wrong. I was just.."

"Watching me sleep." Draco smirked. "Couldn't keep your eyes off me, right?"

"I was not watching you sleep. I came over to…to.." Hermione blushed and cursed under her breath as she tried to think of an excuse.

"It's okay, Granger. I know you think I'm good looking. I don't really blame you."

Hermione glared at him and walked over towards the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked, getting up to follow her.

"I'm going to go find Harry and Ron. I need to know that they're not mad at me."

"Yea, well they're idiots if they are."

"I'll be back before dinner." Hermione said and walked out of the room.

Draco turned back around and sat back on the couch he previously occupied. He looked down at Owen who stared back. Draco didn't notice before, but Owen had the same eyes as Hermione. Hazel brown orbs stared back at him and he couldn't help but smile.

"Don't tell mommy I told you this, but I'm kind of mad that she's going to the ball with Blaise." Draco said to the little boy, who began to climb off his lap. He laughed at his own hypocrisy and helped Owen down.

* * *

Hermione walked over to the portrait with the lion like creature. Harry had told Hermione a few weeks earlier where his dorm was located just incase she needed to talk or Draco was too much for her to handle. She walked up to the portrait and said the password, which Harry had told her also. Walking inside, Hermione saw Pansy sitting on the couch working on one of her assignments.

"What the…Granger, how did you get in?" Pansy looked up, surprised to see Hermione. Harry never told her that he gave Hermione the password.

"Sorry, Harry gave me the password. Have you seen him?"

"He was here a few seconds ago, but he left. I think he went to go talk to Weasley."

"Oh, thank you."

Pansy nodded her head and turned her attention back to the book she was holding while Hermione walked out of the room still in search of her two best friends. However, unlike Harry, Ron never told Hermione where his dorm was. So now, Hermione strolled aimlessly around the corridor wondering which portrait led to Ron's dorm. She was about to turn the corner when she heard voice. Hermione turned and saw Blaise conversing with another Slytherin that she didn't recognize. She quickly hid behind the wall and listened in on what they were saying.

"This is way easier than I thought." Blaise said to the other Slytherin.

"Granger said yes?"

"Of course she did. Now pay up."

"Hey, you didn't win the bet yet. Remember, you still have to get her in bed."

Hermione's eyes widen when she heard what the other Slytherin had just said. She froze where she was standing, wanting to run but her legs wouldn't move. _No wonder he was being nice to me the other day at the picnic. It was just a stupid bet. I should've known! Stupid stupid Hermione_…she thought. Hermione became infuriated. She stomped over to the two boys with fire in her eyes. If looks could kill, they both would've been dead in a heartbeat.

"What the hell is going on?!" Hermione yelled at them, but mainly at Blaise.

"Granger, how nice of you to join us." The other Slyterin boy said with a smirk on his face.

"How much did you hear, Granger?" Blaise said, eyes raised.

"Oh, enough to know that this whole thing is a lie! How dare you ask me to the ball because of a bet. How dare you use me like that!" Hermione was so mad she wanted to cry.

"It was just a silly bet. Don't get your knickers up in a bunch."

"A silly bet?! You think that's a good excuse?"

Blaise just shrugged.

"You're sick." Hermione growled at him. She turned around and ran back to her dorm. She couldn't take this anymore.

"We're still going to the ball together, right?" Blaise yelled at her, but she never gave him an answer since she already turned the corner.

* * *

Draco was lying on the couch watching his children play when he heard the portrait swing open and in walked an angry Hermione. He could see tears of anger flooding through her eyes as she walked over to him.

"Tell your _friend_ that he no longer has a date to the ball." Hermione said to Draco and then turned around to walk to her room.

"What happened?" Draco yelled over the couch to her. She stopped walking and just stood there for awhile, facing away from Draco. Slowly turning around, Hermione let out a big sigh before she told him what had just happened a few minutes ago.

"I was walking out in the corridor looking for Ron and Harry, when I heard voices around the corner. I quickly looked and saw Zabini with another Slytherin boy talking about something so I hid behind the wall and listened in." Hermione paused for a few seconds, allowing Draco to soak in all the information. "Then, I heard the other Slytherin tell Blaise that the bet wasn't over yet, that he was suppose to get me to sleep with him. This whole thing was just one big lie. He only wanted to take me to the ball because of some stupid bet." Hermione looked down at the floor when she finished.

Draco could feel his blood boil as he began to get angry. He knew Blaise was up to no good, but never thought it was something this low. Without saying a word, he got up and marched out of the room. Hermione shot up and followed swiftly behind him.

"Malfoy, where are you going?"

"To kill Blaise."

"Malfoy!" Hermione tried to grab his arm, but Draco just pulled away and continued to walk. They walked down the corridor, but Blaise and the other Slytherin were no where in sight.

"Where is he?" Draco said angrily as he turned trying to look for him.

"He probably went back to his dorm. Come on, Malfoy let's go. We left Owen and Eleina by themselves." Hermione said and pulled Draco by the arm so he would follow.

"Blaise better pray that I won't see his face"

Hermione sighed and they walked back into their dorm. Once back inside, Hermione and Draco sat on the couch.

"I need to have a little talk with him." Draco said, making a fist with one hand and punching it on the other.

"Don't do anything drastic, Malfoy."

"I'm going to beat some sense into that boy."

"Don't! You'll get in trouble. I don't really care anyways."

"Granger, what they were doing is uncalled for. To any girl, not just you."

"I know… I just don't want you to get in trouble."

"Don't worry about it."

It shocked Hermione to see this side of Draco. She never thought that he could care about anyone other than himself. Before Hermione really got to know him, all she knew was that he was a conceited selfish brat, or that's what she thought of him. But ever since they got stuck in this class project together, she's seen the better side of Draco. Hermione only wishes that he could show that side of him more often.

"Let's go to dinner, I'm hungry." Draco said as he went to pick up Owen. Hermione followed by picking up Eleina and together they walked to the Great Hall.

* * *

Unfortunately for Draco, Blaise was not at dinner when they arrived. He sat down on one side while Hermione sat down across from him. A few minutes later, Harry and Pansy arrived with Isabelle along with Ron and Millicent with their children and sat down next to them, but Harry and Ron chose to sit on the opposite side from Hermione so they wouldn't have to be right next to her. Hermione rolled her eyes at their childishness.

"If you guys are mad at me for going to the ball with Zabini, then you'll both be happy to know that it's not happening anymore so will you just talk to me."

Harry and Ron shot their heads up, eyes widened like a miracle just happened, in surprise at Hermione's news. But they weren't the only ones who were shocked, even Pansy gave her a look. Draco wanted to laugh at their faces, but remembered why Hermione was no longer going to the ball with Blaise.

"What changed your mind, Hermione?" Harry asked, no longer angry at her. He even scooted a little closer to her.

"Did you finally realize that you made a completely idiotic choice when you agreed to go with him?" Ron snorted. Hermione ignored him and turned her full attention to Harry.

"I'll tell you later when there are less people around." Hermione said to Harry. He gave her a look, but decided to just talk about it later. Too bad, Blaise entered the Great Hall just at that exact moment. He walked over towards Hermione and pushed Parvati, who was sitting next to her, over so that _he_ could sit next to Hermione.

Draco clenched his fists when he saw Blaise sit across from him. He wanted nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of him, but had to refrain himself especially since the professors were there. He would have his chance once dinner was over and he would make sure that Blaise gets his message loud and clear.

"So Granger, what time would you like me to pick you up for the ball?" Blaise asked Hermione sweetly. Draco watched as she stood up and gave Blaise a big slap across his face. He was completely shocked at what Hermione just did. In fact, every one in the Great Hall fell silent as they watched the scene unfold. Hermione was breathing heavily, mainly from the anger that she held inside. She looked around at all the students staring at her and stalked out of the Great Hall. Blaise quickly got up and followed her out.

"Granger, stop! How dare you hit me!" Blaise said to her as he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. But Hermione didn't have a change to answer him. Draco had already grabbed Blaise by the shoulder, spun him around, and punched him right in the face which caused him to fall on the floor in pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you Draco?" Blaise yelled, as he touched his now swollen lip, blood on his hand.

"Maybe you should ask yourself that." Draco said and tried to get down to punch Blaise for a second time, but Hermione grabbed his arm. He looked at Hermione and she shook her head at him.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you, Zabini." Draco snarled at Blaise.

"Screw you, Malfoy. We're no longer friends."

"Good."

And with that Draco walked back into the Great Hall leaving Blaise still sitting on the floor and Hermione standing a few steps away.

"Consider yourself dateless, Zabini." Hermione said and walked back to the Great Hall. She went over and grabbed Eleina in her arms. Draco had already taken Owen and left the room, obviously still angry at Blaise. Before Hermione could leave, though, her friends had a few questions for her.

"Hermione, what was that all about?" Ron asked

"He deserved that slap." Hermione replied.

"What did he do?" Pansy asked, who was more curious than ever after that slap she saw. Hermione didn't want to say it in front of everyone, but decided it would probably be a good idea if she did so the whole school would know what kind of person Blaise really was.

"The only reason he asked me to the Halloween ball was because he made a bet with some other guy. He was supposed to get me to go the ball with him and…" Hermione began to feel her face red. She didn't feel comfortable telling them that Blaise was going to get her to sleep with him.

"And what?"

"And he was going to get me in bed, okay?" Hermione spat.

That was enough to get Harry and Ron riled up.

"Where is he?!" Ron said.

"I'm going to kill the bastard." Harry said.

"Not if I do it first"

"I'll get his grave ready"

"Stop it! Both of you! No more fighting, please. Besides, he probably learned his lesson from that punch Malfoy gave him earlier." Hermione said.

"Malfoy?!" Both boys were equally surprised. They thought Draco and Blaise were the best of friends so why would Draco punch him.

"Yes, Malfoy. Now if you will excuse me I'm going back to my dorm. I've had enough for today."

"Don't be surprised if you see Zabini in the Hospital Wing!" Ron called out to Hermione as she walked out of the Great Hall, Eleina in her arms.

* * *

Hermione walked inside the dorm to find Owen by himself in the living room.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Hermione said when she sat down on the couch next to Owen. She heard the shower running and assumed Draco was in there.

"Time for bed you two." And she held on two both of their hands as they walked up the stairs, slowly since both Owen and Eleina had to take big steps in order to reach the next step. Hermione quickly got them both changed and tucked them in to their cribs.

"Goodnight, my darlings." She said and closed the door behind her. Walking back to her room, she noticed that the bathroom door was opened and when she went inside, it was empty. She walked into the bedroom and saw Draco wearing only his boxers, drying his hair with a towel.

"That was a quick shower" Hermione said to him and sat on her bed which was still connected to Draco's from the night before.

"I just needed a cold shower to calm my anger." Draco informed her and sat down on his bed.

"Oh, um…well, thanks."

"For what?"

"For caring about me, I guess."

"I wouldn't really call it that. If it was anyone else I would've done the same."

"Right, of course…I'm going to take a shower now. You should probably sleep. Goodnight." Hermione said and quickly walked out of the room. She didn't want Draco to see her face as tears were forming. She had secretly hoped that he really did care about her. _Who am I kidding?_ She thought,_ Why would he ever care about a mudblood._

Back inside, Draco mentally slapped himself in the face. _I'm such an idiot._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The ball was only 5 days away and Draco noticed that Hermione had been avoiding him. They would see each other occasionally, but Hermione would do or say anything to make their conversation short. It was beginning to annoy the hell out of him. He knew that Hermione was pretty upset from the other day when he sort of inferred that he didn't really care about her, but it wasn't supposed to come out that way. He thought maybe she was mad at him for what he said, but why would she be mad at him for so long? Actually, why would she be mad in the first place?

Truth was, Hermione had been over that night a few minutes after she stepped out of the room. She felt completely silly as to how she reacted to what he said. Of course he didn't really care about her, why would he? They were nothing more than partners for this stupid class. They didn't mean anything to each other, did they?

Honestly, the real reason she had been avoiding Draco was due to the fact that she didn't want to feel anything more towards him. Hermione didn't know where these feelings came from. She didn't want to have _any_, but for some reason they were there and she couldn't get rid of them. So, her only way of preventing them from growing is to avoid Draco as much as possible. She knew that she had to see him sometimes, but if it wasn't necessary then she wouldn't talk to him. It was the only way.

Draco sat in the living room reading the Daily Prophet when Hermione strolled in. They went through the whole morning without saying a word to each other. It was quite simple actually, since they didn't have classes together plus they didn't see each other during lunch. Hermione walked towards the stairs without even acknowledging Draco, but he wouldn't let her get away this easily today. He was going to sit her down and demand to know why she was acting this way.

"Not even a 'hello', Granger?" Draco said. He put the paper down and stood up to face her.

"Hi." Hermione said, without even looking at him. She took the first step up the stairs when Draco grabbed her arm.

"You're not going anywhere."

"What's wrong with you? Let me go!" Hermione pulled her arm out of his grasp, but he was holding on so tight that his fingernails scratched her when she pulled away. She looked down at the scratches already forming on her arm and then back at Draco before she ran up the stairs and into the bedroom. Draco rubbed his face in frustration as Hermione slammed the bedroom door shut. _Why does she have to be so difficult? _He thought and walked up to their room. He opened the door slowly and peaked in.

Hermione sat at the end of her bed wrapping something around her arm. She was having a little trouble though, since the bandage wrap kept falling and it was pretty hard with only one hand. Draco walked over and sat down next to her.

"Here, let me help you." He offered, but Hermione turned the other way. "Granger, I'm not going to cut your hand off. Will you just let me help you?" She didn't make a move to face him so Draco just grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her around to face him. To his surprise she didn't object and let him wrap her arm.

He carefully unwrapped the messy bandage that she had attempted with so that he could start over. On her arm he saw there were swollen cut marks. He reached over with his other hand and lightly touched the bumps which made Hermione flinch.

"I'm sorry." Draco said and began to wrap the bandage around Hermione's arm. She didn't say anything, just sat there and watched him.

"Thank you." Hermione said to him once he finished. She began to get up, but Draco stopped her.

"Granger, will you please talk to me? What did I do to upset you? Why are you ignoring me? I have so many questions for you, but if you would just answer one I'll be happy."

"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I know this'll sound stupid but it's not you, it's me."

"I don't get it."

"I…What I'm trying to say is that you're not doing anything wrong."

"Then why won't you talk to me?'

"It's so complicated"

"What is? You're confusing me"

"I have feelings for you, okay?" Hermione blurted out of frustration, "I don't want to, but I do. And it's killing me." Hermione fell to the ground where she stood and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"Granger…I…I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I know the feeling isn't mutual. It's fine, I'll get over it."

They were silent for a moment. Draco wanted to say something, anything, but his mouth wouldn't open. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that he does care for her, but he couldn't. He didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to admit it to her and more importantly, to himself. Draco Malfoy wasn't supposed to fall for a mudblood. It was highly frowned upon, but deep down inside he knew that it was real and he did have feelings for her. He just had an easier time hiding it.

"I have to pick up Owen and Eleina from the children center. Then I think I'm going to visit Ginny. I'll see you at dinner." Hermione got up and left the room, leaving Draco to think by himself.

* * *

Draco walked over towards the lake. He had left the dorm a few minutes after Hermione did. It shocked him that Hermione had feelings for him. Draco knew that he felt that way to her, but never thought that the feeling was mutual. Now that he knew what she really felt, he didn't know what to do. He needed to get some fresh air, needed to think in peace. Draco sat on a large boulder and stared off into the lake.

"Is this seat taken?" Draco heard a voice say behind him. He turned around to see Pansy, a smile on her face, and moved over a little so that Pansy could sit next to him.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Draco asked

"Well, I was talking with some friends and I saw you sitting here so I decided to keep you company."

Draco nodded and picked up a rock that was set beside him.

"Something wrong?"

"No..Yes..I don't know" Draco sighed.

"What's the matter, Draco?"

"I'm just so confused right now"

"Does it have to do with Granger?"

"Maybe"

Draco threw the rock he had in his hands and it skipped across the lake. Pansy took another rock from the ground and threw it, but it only plopped and sunk to the bottom. Draco laughed as Pansy tried again, but failed. He continued to skip rocks while Pansy just gave up.

"Do you like her?" Pansy asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"McGonagall." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, "Granger, you idiot, do you like her?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Don't deny your feelings. I know you too well. You wouldn't be so worried over this if you didn't like her. Stop being so stubborn and just accept the fact that you do."

Draco fell silent and started to fiddle with the rock in his hands.

"Listen Draco, it's completely okay if you have feelings for her, but it's not okay to keep it bottled up inside."

"I don't know what to do. I've never felt this way before."

"Just let her know how you feel. You'll feel better about it once you let her know. If she doesn't accept it, then it's her loss. I know you're a great person on the inside, you just choose to show the ugly."

Draco couldn't help, but laugh. "Why is it that you always know the right things to say to make me feel better?"

Pansy just smiled. They sat together and talked for a while longer before it got dark.

* * *

Hermione headed over to the Gryffindor tower after she left the children center. Ginny was sitting in the common reading a book when she saw Hermione walk in with Eleina and Owen.

"Hermione! What a nice surprise! I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks. How are my little cuties doing?" Ginny bent down and hugged both Eleina and Owen in one big hug. "Come, sit."

Hermione sat down on the opposite end of the couch with Owen on her lap. Ginny took Eleina and began to play with her blonde hair.

"They've gotten so big already. I just wanted to pinch their cheeks." Ginny said which made Hermione laugh. "So what brought you here on this nice day?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"Oh? About what?'

"Promise you won't hate me when I tell you this."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at Hermione, but nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay well, you know how I'm 'married' to Malfoy for this Family Life class?"

"Yes…"

"Um…I sort of…developed a crush on him. And the worse part is that I...told him…" Hermione said in embarrassment and hid her face in Owen's hair. He turned around to look at his mom and touched her face with his tiny hand. She smiled down at the little boy. Ginny, however, was speechless, mouth opened in shock. Hermione looked at her and laughed.

"I know, it's horrible."

"I wouldn't say it was horrible, just…unexpected."

"Haven't you ever had that feeling where you're attracted to someone and you don't want to be, but you can't help yourself?"

"I'm pretty sure every girl has gone through that." They sat in silence for a moment, Ginny still playing with Eleina's hair and Hermione just sat there. "So…what did he say when you told him?"

"Same thing as you, nothing. I'm so embarrassed. I don't even want to see his face. Ginny, I don't know what to do."

"I have a solution!" Ginny said after a couple of seconds of thinking.

"What…?" Hermione said, a little unsure.

"Well, how about I set you up with this really nice Ravenclaw boy?"

"No way! That's so silly."

"Why not? It'll keep you're mind off of Malfoy. You never know, you might end up liking him and besides, you don't have a date to the ball anymore."

"I don't know about this…."

"Come on, Hermione. Just give it a chance. If it doesn't work out then fine, but you don't know until you give it a shot. I promise I won't bug you about it if you just give him a chance."

"Okay, okay! You're lucky you're my best friend."

"Yes! Trust me Hermione, he's a great guy."

"When can I meet him?"

"How about at dinner, tonight? I'll let him know."

"Great."

_This better work_, Hermione thought.

* * *

When Hermione returned to her dorm, Draco wasn't there. She decided it was a good time to give Owen and Eleina a bath, right before dinner. It took her about half an hour to finish their bath and get them dressed. She walked out of the bathroom and jumped when she saw Draco walking up the stairs. She didn't expect him to be there.

"Hey." Draco said and walked past her to their bedroom.

"Hey," Hermione said, but to no one in particular since Draco was already in the room and probably didn't even hear her. Hermione walked back into the children's room and set down Owen and Eleina on the floor. She began to brush Eleina's hair when Draco walked into the room.

"Daddy!" Eleina exclaimed and ran over to Draco.

Hermione looked up at him as he stood in the doorway. Draco looked back into the eyes that were staring at him. He couldn't tell her how he felt, not yet at least.

"Are you ready to go to dinner?" Draco said quickly, he already wasted enough time by standing there not saying anything. Hermione just nodded her head and picked up Owen.

* * *

"Hermione, sit next to me." Harry said when he saw her and Draco walk over towards the table. Hermione smiled and sat down next to him. Draco sat next to Pansy, who was across from Harry, but he sat on Pansy's other side not across from Hermione. Hermione didn't mind though, she was glad he didn't sit across from her. Everyone talked a little bit while they ate, but Draco just ate in silence. That is until Pansy nudged him on his side. Draco looked up to see a boy, wearing Ravenclaw robes, standing behind Hermione.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" Hermione looked up and her eyes met with dark brown ones. The boy had light brown hair that was spiked up and a bright smile on his face. Hermione had to admit that he was pretty cute. _Good job, Ginny._

"Hi, my name is Jacob Franklin. Ginny sent me over."

"Oh, hello."

"I was just wondering if we could maybe have a little talk after dinner. Just to get to know each other, I guess."

"Um..Yeah, sure. That sounds good."

"Okay, well just let me know when you're done. I'll be waiting over at the Ravenclaw table, but take your time. I'll wait for you." Jacob said, and with a last smile he walked back to his table. Hermione smiled as she watched him walk away. Her eyes followed him, but then fell on the Gryffindor table where saw Ginny grinning like crazy while giving her two thumbs up. Hermione laughed at her friend. _Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all._

"Look at the smile on your face, Hermione. You're beaming!" Lavender said from the other side of Harry.

"What? No I'm not." Hermione said, her face turning a shade of pink.

"It's okay, Hermione. Don't be embarrassed. He seems like a nice boy plus he's pretty good looking. I'm jealous!" Parvati said from across the table. Hermione just smiled and turned her attention back to the food in front of her.

Pansy looked over at Draco who had been quiet the entire time. He looked a bit upset, but it was hard to tell. He was always good at hiding his emotions, but Pansy knew him too well.

"Draco, are you okay?" She leaned in closer to him so he was the only one that could hear her. But Draco didn't feel the need to be secretive and stood up violently.

"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be okay?! Everything's great! Just peachy!" Draco yelled.

Everyone around them stopped and looked up at him like he had just escaped from a mental hospital. Ron, who was about to drink a spoonful of soup, froze with his mouth open and the spoon a few inches away. Neville was pouring pumpkin juice into his cup and didn't even notice the pumpkin juice overflowing. Even Owen, who was sitting beside him, clung closer to Pansy. Draco glared at everyone and stormed out of the Great Hall.

* * *

Draco walked out of the Great Hall towards the entrance of Hogwarts. He didn't care that it was pouring out and walked right into the rain. Pansy, who ran after him, stopped before she ran into the rain

"Draco, what has gotten into you? Where are you going? Get back inside before you catch a cold!"

"I blew it! I should've told her earlier, but now it's too late."

"Calm down. It is _not_ too late."

"How do you know? She probably likes him now and totally forgot about me."

"They just met!"

"So? Now they're going to have their silly little talk and he's going to find out that she's an amazing, caring person and they're going to fall in love while I sit here and regret the fact that I didn't tell her how I felt about her when I had the chance."

"You don't know that. She could completely hate him and never want to see him again. Stop assuming things will happen when you don't know for sure, now quit being childish and come inside!"

Draco stomped back inside Hogwarts all drenched from the rain.

"I hate her." Draco said to Pansy as he walked past her and straight to his dorm. Pansy just shook her head and as she walked back to the Great Hall she thought, _Maybe they just weren't meant to be._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Draco paced back and forth in the living room. He had been waiting for Hermione for almost an hour now. After he got back from his outburst in the rain he returned to the dorm and didn't even change out of his wet clothes. When he heard the portrait swing open, he quickly grabbed a book off the table and sat on the couch, not wanting to seem like he had been waiting for her. Hermione walked in with Owen and Eleina to see a drenched Draco Malfoy sitting on a couch reading a book.

"Why are you wet?"

"I decided to take a stroll in the rain." Draco said with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

"That wasn't a very good idea. You'll probably get sick now."

"So what?"

"Okay…someone's in a bad mood." Hermione said and went to go sit on the armchair next to him.

"I'm not in a bad mood, now can we change the subject?"

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"How was you're little chat with…Josh, was it?"

"His name is Jacob and it was nice. He's really funny, actually." Hermione said, laughing a little bit thinking about something he had told her. Draco snorted and looked away. Hermione gave him a weird look. "Are you okay? What was the whole blow up scene in the Great Hall about?"

"I don't want to talk about it! It's none of your business, anyways!"

"You don't have to be so mean about it! So much for not being in a bad mood." Hermione yelled back. She stood up and grabbed Owen and Eleina's hands.

"Where are you going? Don't leave!"

"I'm going to bed! And don't tell me what to do."

"Granger, get back here, I'm not done talking to you!"

"Well I am!"

"Granger!"

Hermione ignored him and took her two kids up to their room. Draco glared daggers at the back of her head as he watched her walk into the room. He got up angrily and went to go change out of his wet clothes. Draco grabbed some clean and dry clothes from his closet and went to the bathroom to change. Hermione tucked Owen and Eleina in their cribs and kissed them goodnight. She lightly closed the door behind her and didn't realize how tired she was until she got into the bedroom. She plopped down on the bed, closed her eyes, and instantly fell asleep.

Draco finished changing and walked back to the bedroom. Along the way he let out a big sneeze and thought: _Oh crap. I think I'm getting sick, please don't let me get sick. Granger's going to have a grand time lecturing me. _But, when he went inside, Hermione was already passed out on the bed. He walked over to her and shook his head. _Stupid Granger. _He carefully lifted her a little bit so that he could take the blanket from underneath and put it over her. He refrained himself from bending over and kissing her on the cheek even though he really wanted to. Instead, he just turned off the lights and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione woke up refreshed and ready for the day. She totally forgot that she was mad at Draco from last night. Getting up and yawning, she looked over at Draco who was still sleeping. Hermione got an idea, she was finally going to get him back for scaring her a few weeks ago when he told her that he left Eleina in the bathtub. Creeping slowly towards his bed so that he wouldn't wake up, she held a pillow with one hand and the other grabbed a hold of his blanket. She counted down in her head. _On the count of the three, 1…2…3! _Hermione quickly pulled the blanket off of Draco and started to wack him with the pillow.

"Wake up, Malfoy!"

"Granger, it's cold! Have you gone mad?" Draco growled and pulled the pillow that he was sleeping on over his head. Hermione laughed as she settled down and sat next to where he slept.

"I told you I would get you back. Now get up. We have classes to attend." Hermione shook him a little bit so that he would wake up.

"I'm not going today, I have a headache."

"I told you! Why didn't you change out of your wet clothes when you got back? And it wasn't a very good idea to walk around in the rain, what possessed you to do that? And…"

"Granger! Will you please stop talking? Your constant rambling is not helping."

_Well, sorry._ Hermione thought as she got of his bed, went to the bathroom to get ready, and got Owen and Eleina up. When she came back, it wasn't a surprise that Draco was still sleeping. So, Hermione decided to just let him sleep since he _was_ sick and all.

* * *

"Where's Malfoy?" Harry asked when Hermione sat down next to him for breakfast. She set Owen on her lap and Eleina in between her and Ron, who sat on the other side of her.

"Still recovering from the outburst he had last night?" Ron asked while he gave one of his kids a cup of milk.

"He's sick. It was quite weird, actually. I came home last night and he was sitting on the couch all wet. Told me he went for a stroll in the rain, which is strange." Hermione replied and fed her kids as well.

"Is that his excuse?" Pansy mumbled. _He's an idiot._

"What was that?" Hermione said.

"Oh nothing."

They continued to eat their breakfast in peace since there wasn't much to talk about. Hermione finished her breakfast before everyone else and excused herself from the table to go drop off Owen and Eleina at the children center. They were about to walk in when Eleina stopped in front of the door and refused to walk inside.

"What's wrong, darling?" Hermione said and bent down to the little girl's level.

"Where's daddy?" Eleina asked. Hermione smiled at her and put a hand on her small cheek. Draco and Hermione usually dropped off the kids together, so it was no wonder that she was looking for him.

"Daddy is sick today so he's staying at home, but you'll see him later."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Hermione said and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

"Mommy, can we go in now? We get to color today." Owen said, standing next to his sister.

"Coloring? That sounds like so much fun!" Hermione turned to her little boy.

"Yea and we have so many colors like blue and red and green and yellow and orange." Hermione laughed at Owen who began to jump up and down in excitement as she walked them in.

"I like pink!" Eleina said stepping in the conversation.

"I like blue! What color do you like, mommy?"

"I like all the colors." Hermione said. After she checked in with one of the ladies holding a clipboard, she bent down to give them each a kiss. "Mommy has to go now. Have fun and be good, okay? I love you."

"Okay, bye mommy! Love you, too!" They both said and ran over to their section of the room.

Hermione walked out of the children center and towards her first class which was Potions. That was the only class she had with Draco. She walked inside and was one of the first students there. Professor Snape sat at the front of the desk reading some book and writing notes on his parchment.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione said, a little cautious though as to not get him mad for interrupting.

"What is it, Miss Granger?" Snape snarled at her, not even looking up from his book.

"Malfo..I mean, Draco won't be attending class today. He's feeling a bit under the weather."

"Thank you. Now take a seat."

Hermione nodded and sat down at her usual table she shared with Draco, but since he wasn't here today she sat alone. It was only a little while before all the students filed in and class began. Potions went by slowly. Hermione felt herself getting bored while she took notes. Sitting by herself during class time wasn't much fun and Snapes's monotone voice wasn't helping either. She was thankful when it was finally over and she was off to Herbology. At least she got to talk to Harry and Ron in that class.

After Herbology, Hermione went to grab some lunch, but she didn't stay for long since wanted to go check up on Draco. So she ate quickly and also got some food for him incase he was hungry. She walked into their dorm and found him lying very still on the couch staring up at the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she walked over to him and set down the plate of food on the table. She looked up to see what he was looking at, but couldn't figure it out.

"I'm trying very hard not to move. Even a slight movement will cause my headache to worsen." Draco said, still not moving.

"Well, you're going to have to move because you have to eat. I got you food."

"I'm not hungry."

"Come on, just eat a little. It's not good to have an empty stomach when you're sick."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but you still have to eat. Now do it yourself or I'm just going to have to force it down your mouth."

"You wouldn't…" Draco said and slowly turned his head to look at her. Hermione picked up the fork and walked over to him. She was about to reach down and force open his mouth when he got up. "Okay, okay I'll eat."

Hermione handed over the fork. Draco reluctantly took it and started to pick on his food a little bit. Hermione cleared her throat when he didn't take a bite. He glared at her as he put some of the food in his mouth. She smiled and got up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I still have classes to attend." Hermione said while she walked towards the portrait hole, but turned around when she remembered something. "Oh and I'm going to meet up with Jacob afterwards, so…could you please pick up Owen and Eleina from the children center?"

"No." Draco said. He stopped eating and returned back to his original position of lying on the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

"Please, Malfoy! I know you're sick, but I promised them that they'll get to see you afterward. They really missed you this morning and would really love it if you were there to pick them up." Hermione walked back over to the couch and kneeled down next to him. "Please?"

Draco looked at Hermione and he could see the pleading in her eyes. He wanted to say no, but he couldn't. Not with Hermione looking at him like that.

"Fine, but I'm doing it for Owen and Eleina, not you."

"Good enough. Thanks. Now, get lots of rest!"

Hermione picked up her book bag and walked out. After she left, Draco groaned as he got up to finish eating. He heard the portrait hole swing open again and someone walking in.

"Forget something, Granger?" Draco called out, but to his surprise it wasn't Hermione. It was Pansy.

"Hey, how did you get in?"

"I saw Granger when she came out and got her to tell me the password. We're even now since Potter told her our password." Pansy said and took a seat next to him on the couch. "I heard you were sick so I decided to come see how you're doing."

"I could be better."

"Shouldn't have taken that walk in the rain last night." Pansy said with a sly smile on her face.

"Shut up." Draco glared at her and returned his attention back to the plate of food in front of him. Pansy giggled a little bit, but waited a little bit before saying something again.

"So did you tell her yet?"

"I don't think I'm going to."

"And why not?"

"It's pointless. She likes Josh… Jordan… James… whatever his name is."

"Did she tell you that?"

"No…but if she didn't like him, then why are they meeting again today?"

"Well, if she didn't say that, then I still think it's a good idea to tell her. You never know."

"Whatever. Hey, shouldn't you be in class right now?"

"Eh. I didn't feel like going to Divination today."

"I never feel like going to that class."

"We should just not go anymore."

They looked at each other for a few seconds and laughed.

* * *

"So Ginny set us up because you wanted to try to get rid of your feelings for another boy?" Jacob asked to Hermione. They had finished their last class of the day and met up outside. Jacob's a very lovely boy and is very sweet, but Hermione only liked him as a friend, nothing more and she felt bad because she felt like she was leading him on, so she had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I understand if you're mad and never want to talk to me again."

"Don't be silly. I'm not mad."

"Really?"

"Yea. I don't like this 'set up date' Ginny made up anyways."

"But I mean, I'll still go to the Halloween ball with you."

"Just as friends?"

"Yes…"

"I would love that." Jacob smiled at Hermione and she returned it.

"You know, you're going to make someone very lucky someday."

"Well, thank you. I'm flattered."

"You're welcome." Hermione said. Jacob laughed which made her giggle.

"So who is this lucky boy you're crushing on?"

"You don't know him."

"Try me."

"Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Of course I know who Draco Malfoy is, who doesn't? Why do you like him?"

"I don't know…It's just when I see him sometimes I get butterflies in my stomach. I've seen a different side of him that I never knew existed, a nicer side and I like it. When I see him with Owen and Eleina, I just can't help but smile because he's so great with them. They love him! I blame all of this on the stupid Family Life class."

"It's not stupid and you know it, but I am glad that I don't have to go through it. I don't know if I can handle having kids right now."

"You're going to go through it soon! Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are next. But don't worry, I thought it was going to be tough but actually it's not that bad. You're going to have a partner to help you. And if you ever need help or anything you know you can always come to me."

"Thank you, Hermione."

"Anytime. I think we should go back inside now. It's starting to get a bit chilly and they should be serving dinner now."

Jacob nodded and got up first so that he could help Hermione up. She smiled and thanked him as they walked back into Hogwarts.

* * *

Draco walked down the corridor towards the children center, with a headache and his sinuses were bugging him. He did in fact remember to pick up their kids, although he was still angry that Hermione made him go even when he's sick and because she wanted to go meet with Jacob. But he let the thought leave his mind, though, as he walked into the center. Inside he was greeted by one of the ladies working there.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. Let me get Eleina and Owen."

Draco nodded and waited for her to return. He saw her walk to the right side of the room and patted Eleina on the shoulder. She looked up at Draco and her face lit up. Quickly cleaning up her table she ran over to him.

"Hi daddy!" Eleina said when she reached him. Draco bent down and picked her up in his arms.

"How's my little princess?"

"We got to color today. Look! I drew a picture for you and mommy!"

Draco took the paper from the little girl and looked at it. It was a picture of four people standing together. There were two that were taller. One had silvery blonde hair and the other had long brown curly hair. They were holding hands. The other two were shorter and stood in between the taller ones. One was a little girl with blonde hair and the other one was a little boy with brown hair. Draco smiled when he realized that it was a picture of them, their family.

"Look! There's you and mommy and Owen and this is me!"

"This is a really good picture, Eleina." Draco said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He set her down on floor when the lady returned with Owen in her arms.

"Owen fell asleep a few minutes ago. I didn't want to wake him." the lady said to him and carefully handed Owen over.

"Thank you." Draco said and walked out of the children center with Eleina trailing along next to him. Draco had decided to eat dinner at the Great Hall that evening, but when he was walking there he saw Hermione and Jacob together. He seemed to be telling her something funny since she was laughing really hard. Draco glared at them and suddenly lost his appetite. So instead of going to eat dinner he took Eleina's hand and walked back to their dorm.

* * *

Hermione and Jacob separated their ways when they entered the Great Hall. Jacob sat at his Ravenclaw table and Hermione hers. She sat across from Harry and Ron. They ate and talked happily and Hermione totally forgot about Draco until she was almost done eating. She became a little worried that he didn't show up, but thought that maybe he felt too sick to come down. So for the second time that day she brought up food for him and a little more for Owen and Eleina.

When she walked into her dorm she saw Draco and their kids sitting on the couch. He was reading them a book. The three of them looked up at her as she walked in. She smiled at Owen and Eleina as they waved to her. Hermione set the food down and sat down with them while she listened to Draco finish the story.

"And they all lived happily ever after." Draco finished a few minutes later.

"I love this story!" Owen said.

"Me too!" His sister copied him.

"Time to eat, then bath time and then bedtime." Hermione said to the two kids. She picked up one of the plates and began to feed them. "Malfoy, I got food for you too. I figured you weren't feeling too good to come down for dinner."

Draco didn't say anything to her and ate his dinner.

"You're not even going to thank me?" Hermione asked.

Again, he didn't say anything. Hermione frowned, but didn't say anything more. Once she finished feeding Owen and Eleina she picked them up and went to give them a bath. Not once, did she say a thing to Draco or even look at him. Afterwards, she tucked Owen and Eleina in bed. Back inside the bedroom, Draco was already lying in bed ready to sleep, but Hermione wasn't going to let him sleep just yet. She walked over and sat on his bed.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked him.

"No."

"You're lying."

"Fine. I am mad at you."

"What did I do, this time? Was the food cold when I brought it up?" Hermione said and rolled her eyes.

"I saw you with him."

"With who? Jacob? Malfoy, we're just friends."

"Didn't seem like it."

"What? Are you jealous?"

"You wish, Granger."

"Then why are you mad?"

"You'd rather spend time with him then with our kids. And you made me pick them up when I was sick."

"Are you kidding me? You said you were fine with me meeting up with him and you picking up Eleina and Owen."

"I never said that." Draco said and turned the other way so that he didn't face Hermione anymore. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Ugh! You are such a child, Malfoy." Hermione said and got up to sleep on her bed.

"And the food was cold when you brought it up!" Draco yelled one last time. Hermione was too tired and fed up to respond. _We're never going to have a nice peaceful night, are we?_ She thought as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Hermione walked down towards the Great Hall with a smile her face. It was the day of the children's Halloween party and she was so excited. She couldn't wait to dress up Owen and Eleina in their cute little dragon and fairy costumes. She also couldn't wait to show them off like a proud mom. Yup, it would be a fun day and she wasn't going to let anything get her mood down that day, not even the tension between her and Draco.

They haven't spoken much since their fight the other night. They would acknowledge each other in front of the kids, but nothing more. That didn't bother Hermione, though, the less of him in her thoughts the better. Maybe that would help her feelings towards him drop.

She shook the thoughts of him out of her mind and walked inside the Great Hall. There weren't that many students inside. Most of them who were there were those who were currently taking the Family Life class. Dumbledore had allowed them to skip the rest of classes that day to prepare for the party. Hermione scanned the table and found Harry, Ron, Millicent, and Pansy sitting towards the front of the table.

"Hello everyone," Hermione said as she sat down next to Ron and poured herself some pumpkin juice, "Where's Malfoy?" Everyone just stared at her, expressionless "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Hermioine," Harry began, "there's been an accident."

Hermione nearly choked. She froze in place and stared at Harry, waiting for him to tell her he was just kidding. There was no accident. He was lying. But when he didn't say anything more, Hermione knew something was definitely wrong.

"What…kind of accident, Harry?"

"Well, Ron and I were watching the Slytherin team practice…" Harry started.

"Weasley here thought it would be a good idea to distract Draco while a bludger was heading towards him at full speed." Pansy finished for Harry. Ron gaped at her.

"I didn't know the bludger was going towards him!" Ron defended himself.

"Sure…" Millicent said and received a glare from Ron.

"Where is he?" Hermione asked, not wanting to hear more from them. She had to go see him.

"Malfoy's in the hospital wing right now, he…"

Harry didn't finish because before he knew it Hermione had got up and ran out of the Great Hall. She ran as fast as her feet would take her. She didn't care that people were staring at her and she didn't care when a professor told her to slow down. All she wanted was to get to the hospital wing. And as much as she hated and didn't want to admit it, she wanted to make sure that he was okay. _Damn you, Malfoy. _

She stopped when she reached the doors and stood there for a while to compose herself. After a moment of catching her breath and putting her thoughts together she opened the doors and walked inside. In the corner she could see a bunch of Slytherins dressed in their Quidditch uniform surrounding a bed which she assumed Malfoy was laying on. The all turned to face her and felt quite embarrassed. She turned around and was about to leave when she heard him call her.

"Granger, come here."

_Just walk out the door_, she told herself, but her feet betrayed her as she felt herself turn back around and walk over to the group of Slytherins. They all stared at her and parted so that she could walk up to Draco. She thought she couldn't get any more red than she currently was. Hermione looked at him, his hair was messy, face smeared with dirt, arm wrapped up. She didn't know what to say.

"Could you guys leave us for a minute?" Draco asked his teammates. They nodded and left. He patted the bed, as a sign for Hermione to take a seat. She hesitated for a second, but complied.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked after a moment of silence. It was a stupid question, but she needed to say something, anything to break the awkwardness.

"I broke my arm, but Madam Pomfrey gave me some potion to drink a few hours ago that should heal it back to perfect. It's almost as good as new. I'm just really sore right now." Draco told her. She responded by nodding. "Who told you I was here?"

"Harry."

"Oh and I assume they told you what exactly happened?"

"Yes, Pansy said Ron distracted you while a bludger ran into you."

"Your little Weasel friend owes me an apology."

"He didn't mean for that bludger to hit you. He didn't even know it was coming toward you at the moment!"

"So? I still got hit didn't I? If it wasn't for him and I wouldn't be here in right now. He owes me an apology."

"Fine. I'll make sure he apologizes."

"Good."

There was another moment of awkward silence. Hermione found her hands quite fascinating at the moment and Draco just watched her. She could feel him staring at her and felt herself grow red as he stared longer. The room suddenly felt really hot. Hermione could not sit there any longer or she felt like she would start to sweat. So she stood up abruptly and startled Draco. It wasn't such a good idea for her to stand up so fast and she realized this as soon as she felt herself go dizzy and sat back down with her hand holding her head.

"What was that, Granger?" Draco asked, with a look of confusion on his face.

"Sorry, it felt really hot all of a sudden and I wanted to get some air, but I think I stood too quickly." Hermione replied, her hand still on her forehead.

"Hot? I don't feel hot and I'm under these covers."

"Oh, well I must be imagining things."

"Are you sure it wasn't me who made you feel hot? It's okay to admit it, Granger. I know you can't help my good looks." Draco said with a smirk.

"Good to see your ego didn't break along with your arm during the fall." Hermione said sarcastically. Draco snorted at the comment, but didn't say anything else. "So are you going to be stuck here all day? Will you be able to attend the Halloween party tonight?"

"I think so. I'm just sore all over, so I'll mostly be sitting down."

"That's fine, as long as you'll be there."

"Would you miss me if I wasn't there?"

"No. I'm only asking because I know Owen and Eleina would want you to be there."

"Speaking of those two, when are you picking them up?"

"I should probably go right now. I'll be back later." Hermione said and stood up ready to leave.

"No need to come back. I'm going to ask Madam Pomfrey if I could leave with you now."

Hermione went to help him up, but Draco stopped her. "It's fine, I don't need your help," he said.

"If you say so" Hermione stood back and watched as Draco attempted to stand up. She tried not to laugh, but couldn't help the smile that was forming on her face. This was going to be a classic Draco Malfoy moment. Almost as good as the time he turned into a ferret, almost. Nothing would ever beat that.

Draco slowly lifted his left arm and removed the covers. The easy part was over. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he tried to lift himself off the bed. The pain that soared through his body was almost unbearable. He tried not to show it, but Hermione could see it in his face. Draco finally got himself sitting in an upright position with his feet off of the bed. He sat there for a moment, eyes still closed, waiting for the soreness to pass so that he could stand up without doubling the pain.

Once the pain subsided, Draco once again took a deep breath. He held onto the side of the table that was next to the bed and slowly lifted his body to stand. That did it for him. He fell back down on to the bed and cried out in pain as his body hit the mattress. Hermione took one look at him and couldn't hold it in any longer. The way he fell and was laying there, body twisted, arms and legs in all directions. She burst out laughing and had to hold onto the side of the bed for support. Draco straightened himself and turned to her.

"This is not funny!" He yelled. But Hermione continued to laugh as Draco just sat there. If looks could kill, Hermione would definitely need a miracle to save her life. Finally, she stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes. Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you done?"

"Maybe" Hermione smiled.

"What's all the fuss about?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she came out of her office. "Mr. Malfoy, are you alright? I heard your yelling."

"Yes, I'm fine. Could I leave now?"

"Well, I still think you need to stay in here a little longer since you are still very sore, but if you think you can handle it then you may go."

"I can handle it."

"Yea, right." Hermione mumbled.

"What was that, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Oh, nothing!" Hermione said, looking away innocently, as Draco glared at her.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy, are you sure you can walk? You may borrow a wheelchair if you wish."

"Actually, a wheelchair sounds perfect! Miss Granger, here, would gladly be my escort. Right, Hermione?" Draco asked, with a smile on his face.

"Wait a mi…" Hermione began, but was cut off by Madam Pomfrey.

"Wonderful! That's very kind of you, Miss Granger. Give me a moment, dears."

Madam Pomfrey left and came back a minute later with the wheelchair. She wheeled it over to the side of the bed and carefully helped Draco get on. She then wheeled him over to Hermione and let her take over. She bid them goodbye and went back to her office. Hermione sighed, but proceeded to wheel Draco out of the Hospital Wing and towards the children center. When they arrived Hermione wheeled him inside. The moment the two of them entered Owen and Eleina came running towards them.

"Mommy! Daddy!" They both exclaimed when they reached their parents.

"Mommy, why is daddy in a wheelchair?" Eleina asked.

"Daddy, did you get a booboo?" Owen asked.

"Your father fell and got a booboo. A really big booboo and it hurts a lot. So make sure you two are careful when you play, okay? You don't want to end up like your daddy." Hermione said to them. They both nodded. She smiled and left to go talk to one of the volunteers.

"Can I ride on the wheelchair with you?" Eleina asked.

"Me too!" Owen added.

"Yes, but wait until your mother comes back because I can't lift you up right now."

Hermione returned a few seconds later. She picked up Owen first and set him gently down onto Draco's lap, then Eleina, and then began to wheel them back to their room.

"Weeee!" Owen laughed.

"Faster, mommy!" Eleina giggled.

"Mommy can't go any faster. Maybe if your dad didn't weigh so much…" Hermione said.

"Hey!" Draco said and looked back at her. She just laughed at him.

Finally, they reached their destination. Hermione gave the portrait their password and wheeled them in. Once inside Owen and Eleina both jumped off of Draco's lap and ran upstairs. Hermione began to follow them.

"Granger, you need to help me get up there."

"Are you kidding me? I can't carry you!"

"I'm not asking you to _carry_ me. That's just ridiculous. Just help me up. How am I supposed to change if I can't get to my room?"

"Figure that out yourself." Hermione said and began to walk up the steps again.

"Granger…" Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Oh alright, don't get your knickers all up in a bunch."

Hermione walked over to him and he put his arm around her so that most of the support came from her. He was surprising not as heavy as Hermione thought he would be. Maybe she's just stronger than she thought she was. They walked over to the stairs and Draco held onto the railing with his other hand. Eventually, they got up to the final step and into their bedroom. Draco removed his arm around Hermione.

"Thanks, Granger. I think I got it from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Unless you want to help me undress…"

"In your dreams, Malfoy!" Hermione said and left the room. She walked into the kid's room and found Owen and Eleina playing with their toys. She smiled at them and went over to their closet to get the costumes. She laid both of them out on the couch.

"Wow, mommy! What is that?" Eleina said already reaching for the costume. Hermione bent down next to her.

"It's your Halloween costume, sweetie. You're going to be a fairy."

"What about me, mommy?" Owen asked.

"You get to be a dragon!"

"Why are we wearing these?"

"We're going to a Halloween party."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"What's Halloween?"

"It's a holiday where people can dress up anyway they want."

"Oh…what's a holiday?"

"A holiday is something that people celebrate."

"What does celebra…"

"Owen, honey, let's not worry about what that means right now, okay? Now let's get you two into these costumes."

She put on Owen's costume first since his was the easiest. She slipped his little legs into the costume and then pulled it up to cover his whole body. The hood of the costume was the face of the dragon. She pulled it over his head and he was complete. Owen looked into the mirror and giggled. Hermione laughed as Owen ran around the room with his dragon suit on.

"Grrr…Mommy am I scary?" Owen asked as Hermione began to dress Eleina in her costume.

"Yes you are! Don't eat me, scary dragon!"

"Roar!"

Owen grabbed Hermione by the hand and bit her.

"Ow!" Hermione played along. The bite didn't actually hurt her, but it fooled Owen.

"I'm sorry, mommy! Does it hurt? I didn't mean to give you a booboo." Owen said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh, sweetie, you didn't hurt me. See, no booboo."

"Daddy, I hurt mommy! Look, she has a booboo."

Hermione turned and saw Draco, who was fully changed, walk in and slowly sit down with them. He's such a slug when he's sore. _Take it like a man, Malfoy._

"What did you do, Owen?" Draco asked and reached for the boy who walked over to him.

"I was being a scary dragon and I bit mommy and now she has a booboo. You need to kiss it to make it better."

Hermione who had continued dressing Eleina in her fairy costume stopped. Draco looked over at her hand and sure enough there was a faint bite mark.

"It's okay, Owen. I'm fine." Hermione said.

"But I want daddy to kiss it to make you feel better."

"That won't be necessar…" Hermione began to say, but was cut off by Draco suddenly grabbing her hand and planting a small kiss on it. She stared at him in disbelief, but quickly got over it before she could let herself blush. She returned her attention back to Eleina.

"Is that okay, Owen?" Draco asked.

"Good job, daddy! Now mommy won't hurt anymore." Owen said. Draco smiled down at the little boy.

Hermione finished off Eleina's costume by putting on the tiny fairy wings and adding a little sparkle to her hair. Now it was Eleina's turn to walk over to the mirror and look at herself. Hermione and Draco both smiled as they saw the biggest grin they've ever seen appear on Eleina's face. The little girl turned around to face her parents and danced over to them.

"Am I pretty, daddy?"

"You are absolutely beautiful, darling." Draco replied and gave her kiss on the cheek. She giggled. "Am I beautiful like mommy?"

Again, Hermione stopped and looked at Draco. Poor guy, always put on the spot. At least he handled it well.

"Yes, beautiful just like your mommy." Draco said and this time Hermione couldn't hide her blush.

"Alright, now that we're all dressed up, shall we go to the party?" Hermione said, getting up quickly.

"Yay!" both the kids shouted and ran out the door. Hermione stayed behind and helped Draco get back downstairs. When they reached the bottom she turned to him.

"I know it was hard for you to say what you said up there since you don't think it's true, but thanks for saying it anyways." Hermione said to him and turned to walk away, but Draco grabbed her arm gently and pulled her back to face him.

"Just to let you know, I wasn't lying when I said it." He told her.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She was speechless! Never in a million years would she have thought that Draco Malfoy thought she, Hermione Granger, was beautiful. Was he lying? He didn't look like he was lying. He wouldn't lie about lying right? She was still staring at him as he walked over and sat back down on the wheelchair.

"Come on, Granger, we don't have all day." Draco said with a smirk. Hermione shook her head to clear her mind and walked over to him. She picked up Owen and Eleina and set them on Draco's lap again before wheeling the three of the out to the Great Hall where the Halloween party was held.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The Great Hall had transformed into something no one had ever seen before. All the tables were gone and replaced by hundreds of booths. Each booth either consisted of games where the children could play and win prizes or gave away food. Small tables could be found along the side of the Great Hall where the students could sit and eat dinner. The decorations were simply magnificent. Thousands of jack-o-lanterns were lit and hung above everyone. It was dark inside, but there was orange lighting and moonlight which made it look like they were all outside. It felt so real, that one might even forget they were inside all along.

Hermione wheeled Draco and her two kids inside. She gasped as she saw what was inside. Owen and Eleina also gasped and their eyes became wide with wonder. It was every kid's wonderland! They both stood up on Draco's lap and started bouncing with excitement. Draco, however, did not feel the excited as the soreness from his legs overwhelmed him with each bounce the kids took. He couldn't even say anything. Hermione, who was at the moment staring off into the Great Hall, felt someone pulling on her arm and looked down to see a pained Draco.

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione exclaimed and quickly pulled them off of Draco's lap. "No more jumping." She told them.

"Granger, keep your eyes on your kids would you?" Draco said.

"They're your kids, too! Why didn't you say anything?"

"I could barely move let alone talk!"

"Is the pain that bad?"

"What do you think? Stupid weasel, I'm going to get him for doing this to me."

Coincidently, Harry, Ron, Millicent, and Pansy, along with their kids, came to greet them.

"Speak of the devil…" Draco mumbled.

"Ron, I think you owe someone an apology." Hermione said.

"What?! Are you serious, Hermione? It was an accident! I don't want to apologize to Malfoy!" Ron rambled, but Hermione just stared at him with a 'you better apologize' look.

"Ron, just do it." Harry said.

"Not you to, Harry. Come on, you were there. It was an accident."

"Weasley, it doesn't matter if it was an accident. It happened. Just apologize. Sheesh." Pansy said, getting impatient.

"Stop being so stubborn." Millicent added.

"You stay out of this." Ron pointed at her. Millicent just stuck her tongue at him. "Fine, fine! Malfoy…I…"

"Apology not accepted." Draco said before Ron could even finish.

"Wait a minute! I didn't even say anything yet! And if I'm going to apologize he better accept!"

"I've had it up to here..." Hermione started, "Ron, apologize! Malfoy, would it kill you to accept his apology?! I mean, you've been asking for it all day! Both of you stop acting like a bunch of immature children so we can go and have some fun!"

Everyone stared speechless at Hermione as she closed eyes and took some deep breaths to calm herself. Even the kids stopped playing and looked at her. After a few seconds, she opened them again and saw everyone's stare.

"What?!"

"Nothing!" They all said at once and looked away, afraid of what Hermione might do.

"Sorry, Malfoy." Ron mumbled while staring at the floor.

"Okay" Draco mumbled back while looking off to the side.

"Alright, now that that's over with, can we go play some games?" Pansy asked picking up Isabelle in her arms and not wanting to be in the tension anymore. Everyone nodded and followed her actions. Each family went their separate ways and decided to meet up later for dinner.

Everyone had fun that night. Even Draco, even thought he didn't want to admit it, had a grand time. Owen and Eleina played almost all the games and they won so many toys. Well actually, Draco and Hermione won the toys for them. Not that they _need_ anymore toys, Draco had told Hermione in which she responded with a shrug.

"Let them have whatever they want. It's their night." She said to him.

"You shouldn't be spoiling them."

"Look whose talking, spoiled brat." Hermione mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh! Look, we haven't played over there yet!" Hermione quickly said and wheeled him and the kids over to the booth.

They spent another hour playing games until the kids got hungry and they decided to get dinner. It was almost nine anyways and they were going to meet up with everyone else. They grabbed their food from one of the booths and quickly found Ron and Millicent. They looked absolutely tired and drained. Well, who could blame them? Dealing with four crazy, hyper kids isn't the easiest thing in the world, plus the fact that Ron and Millicent can't get along. Ron had his head down on the table while Millicent looked like she was near tears as their kids ran around the table. Hermione and crew approached them and took a seat at the table.

"You two look exhausted." Hermione mentioned as she sat Eleina down on her seat to her left and Owen to her right.

"We've been running around like mad dogs." Ron mumbled, his head still down on the table.

They ate in silence until someone tapped Hermione on the shoulder. She turned around and a big smiled appeared on her face. Draco saw her smile and looked over to see who it was, but groaned once he saw the person. He turned his attention back to his food, but he was slightly angrier than he had been earlier and started stabbing his dinner in annoyance.

"Jacob! How are you?" Hermione said to him and turned around so she was fully facing him.

"I'm great, Hermione. Thank you for asking. And yourself?" Jacob replied. Hermione smiled at his kindness.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Good to hear."

Eleina peeked at Jacob from behind Hermione and caught his eye. She quickly hid behind her mother while Jacob just chuckled at the little girl. Hermione turned to look at Eleina and smiled. She grabbed her daughter and sat her down on her lap. Eleina was still shy so she hid her face in her mother's robes, stealing little glances.

"It's okay, sweetie. Don't be shy." Hermione said to the girl. "Jacob, this is Eleina."

"Nice to meet you, Eleina. My name is Jacob." Jacob said to her and stuck his hand out for a shake. Slowly, but surely, Eliena stuck her little hand out and place it on top of his. Hermione smiled at their exchange.

"My name is Owen!" Owen, who had jumped off his chair and walked over to them, said.

"Hello, Owen." Jacob greeted the little boy.

"Look at this! This is my new toy! Daddy won it for me. It's a dragon, see! He flies around and he's green. Green is my favorite color. I'm a dragon too! Roar! I'm a scary dragon. Even mommy thinks so! I bited her earlier, but I didn't mean to hurt her. She had a booboo, but it's okay because daddy kissed it to make it fell better. Daddy has a booboo too. Mommy you should ki.."

"Okay, Owen, go back to your seat and eat your food, please." Hermione interrupted. The little boy looked up at her with sad eyes, but Hermione gave him a strict look that told him he had no choice. Owen did as he was told. Jacob laughed at the scene.

"Hermione, I can tell that you're a great mother." Jacob said. She smiled at his comment, but Draco, who had been listening the entire time, snorted. Both of them turned to look at the blond wizard.

"Jacob, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced you. This is Draco Malfoy." Hermione began, "Malfoy, this is Jacob Franklin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Jacob said to Draco. Draco in return mumbled something that no one quite heard. Hermione kicked him in the leg from underneath the table. He glared at her, but turned to Jacob.

"The pleasure is all mine." Draco said to him, but there was a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice. With that he turned back and ignored them.

"Sorry about him. He's always moody, I'm sure it's nothing personal. And he's not much of a people person; not very social." Hermione said.

"It's alright." Jacob replied with a reassuring smile, "Well, I guess I'll be leaving now. I've already taken enough of your time."

"Okay, it was good talking to you."

Hermione stood up and gave him a light hug before he left. She was almost fully turned around when he called back to her. She looked over her shoulder to see him walking back.

"What is it, Jacob?" Hermione asked.

"I forgot to tell you that I'll pick you up tomorrow at six for the ball. Is that alright with you?"

"That's perfect. I'll see you then."

"See you tomorrow." Jacob said with a wave and left again.

Hermione sat back down and began to eat her dinner again when she felt someone staring at her. She looked to her left and saw Malfoy's intimidating stare. She felt uncomfortable for a moment before she reminded herself that it was just Malfoy. She'd gotten use to his stares.

"What are you looking at?"

"You're going to the ball with _him_?" Draco said, like it disgusted him.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. Why would I?" He asked her before turning away and ignoring her, not waiting for her response.

Hermione stared at him a little longer and went back to eating her food. Every once in a while Hermione would feed the two children on either side of her as they played with their favorite toys that Draco won for them at one of the booths. They each got a plush that, when squeezed, would become real. Owen, who introduced this new toy to Jacob earlier, had a green dragon and Eleina had a fairy, matching their costumes. The green dragon hopped all over Owen as he giggled every time it tickled him. The fairy flew around Eleina and would sprinkle her with fairy dust once in a while.

Some of the fairy dust got onto Draco's soup and that did it. He was already grouchy, hungry, tired, sore, and fed up with all the hyper kids running all over the place, not to mention Jacob rudely interrupting their dinner with his unwanted appearance, though only to Draco. So when he saw little shiny dots on his spoon he had had enough. He tried not to yell too loud, but that didn't work out so well.

"I've had it! I'm done!" He said, pounding his fist on the table. Ron shot his head up in alarm, Millicent stared wide eyed at him, all the kids stopped what they were doing and had scared looks in their eyes, and Hermione just looked at him with annoyance. There he goes again being his moody self and ruining the happy mood. She got up that moment and took Eleina to get more food and to escape before Draco made a scene. Ron and Millicent decided to leave before their kids destroyed everything in the room _and_ to escape Draco before he made a scene. Who would _want_ to be around him when his mood is like this?

So Draco was left with Owen at the table, but not for long.

"What's wrong with you, Draco?" Someone said over his shoulder. He turned to see Pansy. "Someone missed their nap time." She continued.

"Shut up, Pansy" Draco shot back.

"Daddy, don't be grumpy." Owen said.

"I'm not grumpy."

"That's the underestimate of the year." Pansy said while she took a sip of pumpkin soup. Draco shot her a look, but didn't say anything. It was true, of course. He was grumpy and tired, but he couldn't help himself. It's probably a side effect from all those potions he had to drink to heal his wounds. Yeah, that's probably it.

"Daddy, do you want to play some more?" Owen asked while tugging on his robes.

"No, I'm really tired right now." Draco replied.

"Please?"

"No."

"But.."

"I said no!" Draco yelled. Owen jumped at his father's raised voice and began to cry. Pansy grabbed the little boy in her arms.

"Draco, what has gotten into you?" Pansy said in an angry, but hushed voice so she wouldn't scare Owen even more. Draco groaned at his mistake and tried to grab Owen from Pansy's arms, but the boy wouldn't budge. He wouldn't even look at Draco.

Hermione, at the exact same moment, returned with Eleina and saw that Pansy was holding Owen and Draco with his head in his hands. Something was wrong by the looks of this picture in front of her.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as she walked over to Pansy and picked up Owen in her arms.

"Draco, here, decided to yell at the poor child." Pansy kindly informed Hermione.

"Malfoy, what is wrong with you?!"

"Stop asking me what is wrong! I'll tell you what's wrong, I'm tired of this!" Draco said and got up from his wheelchair not caring that he was still sore. He walked away from them and walked out of the Great Hall. Hermione stared at him in disbelief._ Why is he acting like this?_ She was about to get up and follow him, but Pansy beat her to it.

"I'll check on him." Pansy said and walked out of the Great Hall. She found him right outside the doors sitting on the floor with this back perched against the wall with his eyes closed. Pansy sat down next to him.

"Draco, are you okay?" she asked in a soft voice to let him know that she wasn't here to lecture him, but to listen to what he had to say because she was truly worried about him. "Why are you in such a bad mood?"

"I don't know, Pansy." Draco sighed. "I was fine, until…"

"Until…?"

"Until that idiot showed up. I don't know why, but when I saw him my mood just turned. There's something about him that I don't like."

"Who?"

"Jason, Josh, whatever his bloody name is."

"Oh, I see what's happening here. I know why you don't like him."

"What are you getting at?"

"You don't like him because he and Hermione are close."

"Ha! Please, Pansy. That's hardly it."

"Do you really think that? Because I have a feeling that that's pretty much it."

"You don't know anything."

"I know a lot more than you do, obviously. Stop kidding yourself, Draco, and accept the truth. You care about her. And honestly, it's okay if you do."

Draco thought for a moment with the one thought that lingered through his mind. He didn't want to admit it, but he did have something towards Hermione. Something he didn't like at all, but couldn't help it. He wasn't supposed to feel like this and if there was anyway to get rid of this feeling he would pay all the galleons in the world to get it.

"But I'm not supposed to feel this way towards her. I'm not supposed to get annoyed when some bloke comes along and decides to flirt with her. I'm not supposed to care, but why do I feel like this? Why me? I didn't ask for this, but it came anyways and I can't help, but be angry."

"I think it's quite interesting that you feel this way towards _anyone_ let alone Granger." Pansy responded and received a snort from Draco. "But that's how it is, Draco. You care for her because she means something to you. You can't help that feeling. And the only reason why you are angry is because you've never felt this way before and you don't know how to handle it and you can't control it."

"But I don't want to feel this way towards her. I can't."

"Why not?"

"I…I just can't, okay. I don't want to."

"If this has to do with the fact that she is a muggle-born, then you need to get a reality check. Nobody cares about that stuff anymore."

"You don't get it, Pans. I've been raised to believe that her kind is wrong, that I'm not even supposed to associate myself with them. I can't just throw all that away in an instant."

"You're a good person. I know you are. You can get past all that load of bull."

"I can't just forget everything. It doesn't work like that."

"Then make it work because if you don't you're just going to suffocate yourself with all the confusion in the end and because as long as you're with her or around her the feeling won't go away and it will probably grow bigger and bigger."

And with that as her final statement Pansy got up and left him to sit alone in the cold corridor.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Draco did take in consideration of what Pansy said to him that night. He played the conversation over in his head plenty of times. It bothered him like crazy, but it still lingered in his mind. He thought about it the rest of that night and the next day up until the afternoon when he was getting ready for the Halloween Ball. He was alone in the master bedroom changing into his costume. Well, it wasn't much of a costume. Draco was never really a Halloween type of person so he opted for simple black robes and a mask.

He sat down on the bed with his head in his hands. The feelings had been eating away at him constantly and he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't even act like himself anymore. He didn't feel like himself. Draco Malfoy does not stress over a girl. He stood up suddenly and decided that tonight he would tell Hermione what he felt. Grabbing his coat from the closet, he left the bedroom and left to the Great Hall.

Hermione had gone over to Ginny's dorm after dropping of the kids at the children's center. The little red head was eager to help her get ready and Hermione couldn't say no to her best friend. Hermione had chosen a fairy for her costume, somewhat similar to Eleina's. She wore an elegant, white, strapless dress that had jewels all over. Ginny charmed her wings so that it would stick to the back of the dress. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she wore very light make-up with glitter all along her bare skin on her face and arms.

Ginny took a step back to admire her look and a wide grin grew on the girl's face. Hermione couldn't help but blush a little. She looked in the mirror for the first time and a little gasped escaped between her lips. Hermione was never one to be conceited nor was she self-centered, but the moment she saw herself she felt beautiful.

"Ginny! You're a miracle worker!" Hermione exclaimed as she flew to her friend and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Well, it wasn't hard. I didn't really do much considering you're already pretty. Wait until Jacob sees you! He'll just die!"

"Ginny," Hermione laughed, "We're only going as friends, nothing more."

"So? He will still gawk over you, I'm sure of it. All guys are alike. When they see someone who is as gorgeous as you, they'll go after them."

"Since when were you such an expert on boys?"

"Since forever. Now, let's get you back to your dorm before Jacob arrives."

Hermione nodded and followed Ginny out the door. They walked down the corridor heading towards Hermione's dorm when they spotted someone standing near the doorway. The person was wearing long black robes and had greasy black hair. It looked like Snape, but why would Snape be lingering down the corridor? The two girls reached the person and tapped them on the shoulder. Hermione and Ginny burst out laughing when they saw who it was wearing the robes and black wig.

"Harry," Hermione said and paused to laugh more, "What on earth? Are you dressed as Professor Snape?"

"Yeah, great costume, right?" Harry said with a grin.

"Why in Merlin's name are you dressed as Snape?" Ginny asked, still laughing.

"You're supposed to dress up as something scary for Halloween, right? I think my costume is great. Can't wait to see what Snape thinks about it, though."

At that, Hermione and Ginny doubled over with laughter. They wiped the tears from their eyes before recollecting themselves. Hermione was about to say something to Harry, but when she turned to him she saw him staring at her with his mouth slightly open.

"Close your mouth, Harry Potter. That is so rude." Hermione said to him.

"Sorry Hermione, but you look stunning."

"Doesn't she? I think so, too." Ginny said, putting a hand over Hermione's shoulder. Hermione just smiled at her two friends and walked over to her portrait.

"Thanks again for helping me get ready, Gin. I'll see you later at the ball, Harry." Hermione called to them before entering.

Hermione went up to her bedroom expecting to see Draco, but the room was empty. She walked over to the mirror and reapplied some of her make up before she heard a knock coming from the portrait. She hurriedly ran downstairs and walked out of the dorm to see Jacob, dressed as a knight in shining armor, waiting for her.

"Hermione, you look absolutely gorgeous!" Jacob greeted her and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. A blushed crept onto Hermione's face as she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Jacob. You look great!"

"You don't have to lie to make me feel good."

"I'm not lying!"

Jacob chuckled and held out his arm for her. Hermione took it and walked with him towards the Great Hall. Once they reached there, they saw a crowd of people standing outside the doors. Dumbledore stood in the front of the crowd.

"There's been a slight change of plans. The Halloween ball will no longer be held here in the Great Hall. It has been moved outside. Now, if all would make your way out the front doors." Dumbledore announced and held his hand out to guide the students out of the castle.

Hermione and Jacob walked out the school to see the outside was completely decorated with Halloween décor. The moon was shining brightly in the sky and the millions of stars gave a romantic affect to the sky. Tables were set out for the students to enjoy dinner before the dance. Dumbledore reappeared in the middle of the dance floor and face them.

"Please, take a seat at one of the tables. Dinner will begin shortly."

Everyone started moving as they looked for friends and grabbed a seat at one of the tables. Hermione spotted Harry and Ron and guided Jacob to them. Pansy, Draco, and Millicent was also at the table. Ron was dressed as a werewolf, Millicent was dressed as a Healer, and Pansy was dressed as a cat, which reminded Hermione all too much of her second year. Jacob pulled out a chair for Hermione to sit and sat down right next to her.

"Hermione, you look great!" Ron said to her once she sat down.

At once, Draco looked over at her and had to force himself not to stare with wide eyes. That couldn't be Hermione sitting in front of him. No, it was an angel that had fallen from the sky. Her skin glowed under the moonlight, her cheeks flushed with a slight hint of pink, and her eyes were hazel brown filled with warmth. Draco shook his head and looked away. He couldn't look at her any longer. Little did he know that Hermione had already seen the look on his face.

Dinner appeared a few minutes later and everyone was enjoying the magnificent feast. The music began an hour later as student began to make their way to the dance floor. Jacob held his hand out to Hermione asking her for a dance. She responded by taking it and they too walked to the dance floor. Draco just glared at the couple, watching from the side lines.

"Do you want to dance, Draco?" Pansy asked. He looked back to the table and noticed that everyone save himself and Pansy were gone. Draco nodded and held out his hand for her. They entered the dance floor just as a slow song began to play. He looked over at Hermione and Jacob. They held each other closely, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck, and her head was pressed again his chest.

"Quit staring at them, Mr. Obvious." Pansy said.

"I'm no.." Draco began, but Pansy beat him before he could finish.

"Don't even try to deny it." Pansy cut him off. He grumbled underneath his breath, but said nothing. "When are you going to talk to her?" She continued.

"I was going to tonight, but seeing that she's getting so close to that git I don't think it's the right time."

"Are you an idiot, Draco? You're going to wait until she get's closer to him and _then_ tell her? Seriously, I thought you were a lot smarter than that."

"How the hell am I going to get the chance to talk to her if she's dancing with him all night?"

"I can help you with that."

Draco looked at her, confused, and she gave him a wink before walking over to Hermione and Jacob. He watched as she tapped Hermione on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Pansy pointed in his direction and the two looked over at him. Draco silently cursed her. The next thing he saw was Pansy dancing with Jacob and Hermione walking towards him. He stood up tall when she reached him and gave her a short not as to say hello.

"Pansy said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, let's go over to where there are less people."

Hermione nodded and followed him around the castle. Draco sat down on a stone bench while she stood. For a moment, it was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the faint music coming from the ball and the howling wind that blew passed them once in a while. Hermione look at the leaves on the floor that had fallen during the season while Draco stared off into the forest. Finally, the silence was broken by the sound of Draco's voice.

"Aren't you going to sit?"

"Is this going to take long?"

Draco shrugged and returned his gaze to the forest. Hermione sighed and walked over to sit beside him on the cool stone bench. Another guest of wind blew towards them that made Hermione shiver. She rubbed her arms to gain some warmth, but suddenly felt a heavy cloth around her. She looked up to see that Draco had draped his cloak over her.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she tightened it around her shoulders. Draco responded with a nod. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Draco waited before responding. He needed to gather his thoughts and come up with how he was going to tell her about his feelings. He was good a lot of things, but this, not very much.

"Granger, this is very difficult for me to explain. I don't usually do this type of thing, express my feelings, but for some strange reason you have led me to do it."

"I don't understand what you are trying to say. What did I do this time?"

"You…You're just…just you in general." Draco stammered.

"Well, I'm sorry for being myself. Care to tell me how I should act? You're good at that, aren't you? Controlling others?" Hermione said, slightly angry.

"Calm down, Granger. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Most of it, anyway." Draco sighed before talking again, "I have this strange attraction towards you. I've never felt this way about anyone before. Maybe it's because I'm always around you that's led me to feel like this or maybe it's just who you are…what I guess I'm trying to say's I know it's not love, but I've been trying to figure out what it is."

Hermione sat there in shock. Draco Malfoy was sitting here next to her admitting to having feelings towards a person and not just any person, but her. She didn't know what to think or what to say. She had admitted her feelings to him weeks before, but she had hoped to get rid of it, eventually. Now that he admitted to returning the feelings, she didn't know what to do.

"Are you sure? Maybe this is just short term thing. It'll pass." Hermione asked, not looking him in the eye.

"I know what I'm feeling, Granger. When ever I see you with that Jordan fellow, I.."

"Jacob, his name is Jacob. Merlin, Malfoy! Are you ever going to get it right?"

"I could care less what his name is! Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, whenever I see you with that_ Jacob_ fellow, I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I want to punch the git."

"Jealousy"

"No, not jealousy."

"Yes, I think it is jealousy. There's no reason for you to feel the need to act violent towards him if you weren't jealous."

"Fine, maybe a little bit."

Hermione gave a short laugh. Was this really happening? First, Draco admitting that he had feelings for her and now he was even admitting to being slightly jealous. This has got to be some weird dream.

"What do you suggest we do?" Hermione asked in a voice barely below a whisper.

"Well, I'm not going to ask you to be my girlfriend or anything."

"Oh, because I was _so_ waiting for you to ask me." Hermione said sarcastically. Draco just rolled his eyes. "I guess we just continue with the way things are and see what happens. If our feelings for each other decrease, fine, but if our feelings increase…"

"Then we'll snog every night."

"Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed and smacked him in the arm.

"What?"

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes. "We shouldn't be thinking of _that_ right now. We don't even know if we'll reach that point. Of course, we should stop having so many arguments. That would be helpful."

"You need to remind yourself of that more often."

"Here we go again. Let's just stop before this turns ugly. We need to start acting more like friends. No more fighting, especially in front of the kids."

"Fine."

"Say it like you mean it."

"That's a fine idea, anything you wish!" Draco said sarcastically in a perky voice, with annoyance written all over his face. Hermione just laughed and shook her head.

"Come on, let's get back to the party."

Hermione got up and dragged Draco along as she walked back towards the front of the castle. The ball was alive as ever when they got back. Most of the students were on the dance floor and everyone looked to be enjoying themselves. They walked back over to Pansy and Jacob who were talking on the side.

"Finally, I thought you two would never come back." Pansy said, with a smirk on her face, silently telling them she knew what had happened between the two.

"I'm so sorry to have kept the queen waiting." Draco said, sarcasm spilling out with every word. Pansy laughed and playfully punched him on his shoulder. A slow song began to play in the background. Jacob was about to ask Hermione to dance, but Pansy quickly grabbed him and pushed him to the dance floor, winking at Draco and Hermione before disappearing into the crowd. Draco shook his head at his best friend.

"May I have this dance, Hermione?" Draco asked politely, holding out his hand for her. Hermione was shocked to hear him say her name, but quickly got over it.

"Of course, Draco." Hermione smiled, and took his hand.

The two made their way into the center of the dance floor. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck while he held her waist. She laid her head lightly on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. He hesitantly rested his chin on the top of her head as they slowly danced the night away, both wondering the same thing. Where is their relationship going to go after the night ends?


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Things had changed drastically for Hermione and Draco since that night of the Halloween ball. Rarely did they get into fights and they actually spent a lot of time together with Owen and Eleina. Of course, the little ones were ecstatic that they spent so much time with them, but even Draco and Hermione found themselves enjoying every second they had together, too. Well, not every second, but it was fine most of the time. This Family Life charade didn't seem _that_ bad after all.

Earlier that day was the first Quidditch match of the year. Draco left early in the morning to prepare for his first match. Hermione attended the game along with Eleina and Owen. She was hesitant to bring them along at first because of the dangerous bludgers that could've gotten out of control, but Draco convinced her to bring them. He really wanted them to see their father win, even though they were probably too young to understand what was going on, he was so confident that he would. They had a small fight about the situation the night before, but Hermione was defeated. She couldn't say no.

Hermione was still a little wary when they made their way to the Quidditch pitch, but then she saw a new section in the middle of the stands that hadn't been there the previous years, next to where the professors sat, that was protected by what looked like a very thick and huge window. Most of the other students were already inside with their children including Harry and Ron. Hermione was relieved and laughed a little to herself. Of course Dumbledore would've thought of something so that the students could enjoy the match and also know that the kids were safe.

The match was Slytherin against Ravenclaw with the win going to the well-trained Slytherins thanks to team captain, Draco Malfoy, who caught the snitch. The whole Slytherin section roared with cheer when Draco held up the little golden snitch with his hand, a smirk on his face. Even Hermione couldn't help the smile that had spread across her face. She was happy for him.

After the match, both teams retreated back to their dorms to change and shower. All of the other students went into the Great Hall for lunch. Through out the entire lunch the Great Hall was filled with Quidditch chatter. This match definitely got everyone pumped up for the next match. Even little Owen and Eleina was no exception from the topic.

"Did you see Daddy? He was flying so high up in the sky! He almost toucheded the clouds!" Owen exclaimed as Hermione tried to feed him some peas.

"And did you see him go so fast? He was the most fastest than everyone else!" Eleina added to her brother's comment.

"Yes I did see that." Hermione smiled at them before she began eating lunch herself.

"Hmm, I do have say that the Slytherins really stepped it up this year," Harry said, "but, of course, they're no match for us."

Ron nodded in agreement since his mouth was full of food. He didn't want to set a bad example in front of the children, especially since Hermione was there to scold him if he did.

"We'll see about that." Pansy, who was sitting next to Hermione, said to him. She had a sly smile on her face. Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I wouldn't bet on them winning. We've got them beat." Harry concluded.

"Be careful, Potter. You wouldn't want to jinx your own team now." A voice from behind Hermione and Pansy said.

"Daddy!" Owen and Eleina both exclaimed as Draco took a seat next to them.

"Don't worry about it, Malfoy" Harry said. But Draco didn't have a chance to replay back.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy! I saws you playing!" Eleina said, tugging on Draco's robes. He smiled at the little girl and pulled her to sit on his lap.

"Really?" Draco pretended to be surprised.

"Yeah! And then I saw the big brown thingy almost hit you! And then I screamed, but then mommy said you were okay, so I was happy again! I'm glad it didn't hid you, daddy."

Draco laughed. "Me too, sweetie."

"Daddy, will you teach me how to fly on that stick thingy?" Owen said.

"Of course!" Draco said. Hermione snapped her head up to look at Draco when she heard him and give him a look that clearly said 'you_ better_ not". "Maybe when you're a little older, Owen." He corrected.

"Aw, but I want to learn right now!"

"Ask your mother."

Before Owen could even let a sound out of his mouth Hermione responded with, "No." And spoke before he could protest. "Alright you two, let's not bother your daddy anymore. He needs to eat too. And your lunches have barely been touched."

"But I'm not hungry" Owen said with a pout.

"I'm not hungry, too." Eleina said and copied her brother's pout.

Hermione sighed at them. "Well then I'm taking you two back into our room. There's no reason to be here if you aren't going to eat."

"Can we go outside and play?" Owen asked.

"Please? Mommy, please?" Eleina pleaded.

Hermione laughed. How could she say no to that?

"Oh, alright, but only for an hour and then we need to get back so I can finish my assignments." Hermione gave in.

The two smiled happily and stuck out their hands for Hermione to pick them up and set them on the ground. They were beginning to walk towards the doors when Owen turned around and saw that Draco was still sitting at the table eating and talking with Pansy.

"Daddy! Aren't you coming?" Owen said and rushed over to Draco's side.

"I'm still eating, son, but I'll be out there soon." Draco promised. He bent over to kiss the boy in the forehead.

"Okay, we'll wait for you!" Owen said while backing away towards Hermione, who was waiting for him at the end of the table.

"Bye daddy!" Eleina said from Hermione's arms. Draco smiled and waved to her, then turned back around to eat his lunch.

A little while later most of the students had left the Great Hall and went off to do whatever they did during the weekends. Draco and Pansy were among the few who were still in inside. They had finished their lunch and decided to talk a little more before Draco went outside to see Owen and Eleina.

"How's it going with Granger?" Pansy asked.

"Not bad. We're actually _trying_ to get along now. It's working, though. We don't bicker as much, but we can't totally prevent that from happening."

"That's good. I'm glad."

"Why are you glad?"

"Because that's what you want isn't it? Besides, I don't have to listen to you mope around anymore. Thank Merlin for that." She said. Draco glared at her, which she returned it with a smile and a pat on the shoulder. She got up then. "Don't look at me like that, Draco. I need to go see Potter and Isabelle now."

Draco stood up with her. They walked out of the Great Hall together and then parted ways.

* * *

It had begun to snow the next following week, covering the entire school with a blank white sheet of snowflakes. It was the second to last week of November and as each day passed Hermione thought of how she was getting closer and closer to losing her kids. It broke her heart to know that after January she wouldn't be able to see them anymore, to hold them, and just to be with them. Every time she thought about it she would want to cry, but always held it back so that Owen and Eleina wouldn't see her crying and ask her why she was upset.

Not only was her relationship with her kids going to end in two months, but her relationship with Draco as well. It had been weeks since they made that proposal to work things out between them at the Halloween ball, but things haven't even changed yet. They acted as friends and nothing more. The feelings were there, oh they were definitely there, but the lack of interaction between them was the only thing in the way. They spoke to each other, but that's all they ever did. Hermione decided to just forget about that for now. The most important thing to her at this point was spending time with Owen and Eleina. Only time will tell where her and Draco's relationship will end up.

As more snow kept falling each day, Owen and Eleina would keep asking Hermione if they could go outside to play, but each time Hermione would say no. She didn't want them going outside until it stopped snowing incase it started to snow really hard. So every evening while Hermione and Draco worked on their assignments, Owen and Eleina would sit by the window, with their little hands pressed against the glass, and watch the snow fall.

Finally, on a clear Sunday afternoon, while Owen and Eleina were in their room playing with Draco, Hermione decided to surprise them with the news that they would be going outside. Draco already knew of the plan and waited for Hermione to tell them. She got their coats ready for the cold and walked into the room with a huge smile on her face. She knew that this would make them so happy.

"Mommy, come play with us." Eleina said from where she sat next to Draco. She was holding a doll that sang songs to her.

"Look what I got from daddy" Owen held up a small snitch that flew around in tiny circles and could be easily caught.

"Oh, those are some fun toys you've got there," Hermione said as she approached them. "But you know what I think would be more fun?"

"What?!" They both asked at the same time, excited to hear what new toy they would be getting next.

"I think it would be more fun to play in the snow!" Hermione said happily. They screamed in excitement and ran to Hermione, both of them grabbed her by the legs. Draco smiled at them and Hermione laughed.

"Really, mommy?! We can?" Eleina asked. Hermione bent down so she could speak to them from their level.

"Yes, sweetie, we'll be going outside today, but only for a little while. It's really cold outside and I don't need the two of you to be walking around with runny noses."

"Yay! Let's go right now!" She began to tug on Hermione's arm.

"Not yet, we need to get you two dressed." Hermione walked over to where she left their coats, boots, scarves, and hats. She was well prepared for this snow trip.

"But we're already dressed."

"That's not enough to keep you warm, now the faster we get you dressed, the faster we can go outside."

Hermione began to put the extra clothing on Eleina while Draco dressed Owen. They were finished in ten minutes and both kids were eager to leave their room. Hermione and Draco changed into their warmer clothes as well before walking outside. Students were already outside enjoying the cool weather and playing in the snow. Hermione stopped them before going outside.

"Now, listen to mommy, I know the snow will be fun to play in, but the rules are still the same. Stay close to mommy and daddy. Do not run off with someone else. If you don't behave then we're going right back inside. Understand?"

The two quickly nodded their head as they watched the students outside. Hermione sighed and stood up. She knew that they probably didn't hear her. She would just have to keep a close eye on them.

"They'll be fine. You worry too much." Draco told her as they walked outside. Hermione didn't respond. He was right; she was worrying too much about it.

Once outside Owen and Eleina dropped their hands from their parents' and ran towards the left side of the school where they saw Ron and Millicent were off to the distance. Hermione and Draco approached them while keeping an eye on the two. They were picking up the snow and throwing it on the ground while laughing. They were so happy and having so much fun just from the snow. It was really a great sight to see. From where they stood they could hear Ron calling to one of his kids.

"Alex! Don't put that in….your mouth." Ron tried to say while he grabbed his other son's hand, but it was too late. The little boy already stuck a handful of snow in his mouth and started chomping away. Ron ran to him and tried to make him spit it back out. "The snow is dirty. It's not something to eat."

Alex just nodded, as he rubbed his tongue with his glove covered hands. Hermione laughed at the scene that happened in front of them.

"Oh, Ron." Hermione said as she laughed. "It must be so hard for him."

When Draco didn't respond, she turned around to see where he was off to, but quickly regretted it. Right when she turned her head, a snowball flew directly at her face. She stood, frozen, in disbelief that that happened. She wiped the snowball away from her face and saw Draco, a distance away, laughing. She was angry at first, but then she saw that Owen and Eleina were laughing too and she softened.

"Oh, you think that's funny don't you?" Hermione yelled to him as she slowly bent down to make her own snowball. "Well, let's see if you find this funny."

Hermione threw the snowball as hard as she could towards Draco, but he moved too quickly and dodged the snowball easily.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Granger!" Draco yelled as he ran off.

"Hey! Get back here, Malfoy!"

Hermione ran after him, snowball in hand. She lost him for a second and then found him peeking at her from behind a tree and then quickly hide behind it again. A smile formed on her face and she slowly approached the tree. Just as she was about to jump behind the tree a snowball hit her in the back of her head. She turned around suddenly to see Draco rolling on the ground laughing. She was really angry now and stomped over to him.

"I'm going to get you for that, Malfoy!"

"Let's see you try!" Draco had gotten up by the time Hermione was a few steps away from him. Again, he ran off to the opposite direction towards the trees.

"Stop running, you coward!"

Hermione ran after him and just as she was about to run past the first tree Draco jumped out and grabbed her sending them both to the ground, but Draco pulled her over him so that he landed on the ground instead of her. They were both laughing, but slowly stopped when they realized that they were extremely close, with Hermione lying on top of Draco.

Their position should've been awkward and they should've quickly got up, but it wasn't and they didn't. They stayed like that as they looked into each other's eyes. Hermione's heart began to pound and her stomach felt like it was doing flips. Draco's mind was chaos as he tried to figure out what to do. He wanted to kiss her. He was going to kiss her and Hermione could see that in his eyes. The good thing was, she wanted him to kiss her too. They slowly leaned in when suddenly a haunting cry of a child was heard followed by

"Mommy!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 **

_Hermione's heart began to pound and her stomach felt like it was doing flips. Draco's mind was chaos as he tried to figure out what to do. He wanted to kiss her. He was going to kiss her and Hermione could see that in his eyes. The good thing was, she wanted him to kiss her too. They slowly leaned in when suddenly the haunting cry of a child was heard followed by_

"_Mommy!"_

Hermione instantly snapped her head towards the castle where the voice came from. Her eyes were wide with fear. She could sense that something was wrong and she had to get to her kids, immediately. Draco, although he looked calmer than Hermione, was also startled and quickly got up. He pulled Hermione up with him and they both ran towards the castle searching all over for Owen and Eleina. Hermione spun around looking everywhere. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes as her fear grew bigger.

"Eleina!"

Hermione's head shot up when she heard Draco yell their little girl's name. She saw him run around the corner of the castle and sprinted to catch up with him. When she turned the corner her heart sank. There in front of her was Draco holding Eleina in his hands as Owen stood next to him with his eyes puffy and red from crying. As she stepped closer she saw the line of blood trickling down her daughter's forehead.

The tears rushed out as Hermione knelt down besides Draco. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't even speak. No sound came out of her voice as she just stared at the little girl.

"Owen, what happened?" Draco asked the little boy who was still crying.

"We…we were playing and we saw mommy cha..chasing you an..and I decided to chase Eleina and she ran aways an…and she slippeded and fe…fell." At this point the boy was trembling as he sobbed. He ran to Hermione and she hugged him tight. Draco got up with Eleina still in his arms.

"We have to get her to the Hospital Wing." He said and started walking away without waiting for Hermione.

She stared at his back as he walked into the castle and slowly got up herself, holding Owen, who was still crying silently. She hadn't spoken a word since she saw her little girl. The tears kept coming, but she made no move to wipe them away. As she walked along the corridor towards the Hospital Wing, she thought of how such a wonderful day had turned out so horrible. This experience had taught her two things: that time is a precious thing because in an instant something could change and that from now on she needed to keep a better eye on her kids.

The little boy had fallen asleep in her arms with his thumb in his mouth and tears stained his small face. Hermione was about to enter the Hospital Wing when Draco stepped out and blocked her path. She looked up at him with confused and tearful eyes. Draco lifted his hand and lightly brushed away the tears that sat on her cheeks. He couldn't help himself as he bent down and laid a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Madam Pomfrey is taking care of her. She doesn't want us in there right now, but she said that Eleina will be okay. She hit her head on a rock..."Hermione winced as he said that, "She got a small cut and it knocked her out since she was so small, but nothing serious. Madam Pomfrey said she'll be all better soon."

Hermione sighed in relief. She took a few steps back until she hit the wall and slid down in a slight crouch. Draco walked over and bent down in front of her. He held her chin in his hand and lifted her head so that she was looking at him.

"She's going to be fine, Hermione." Draco assured her.

"I…I know, but I just can't believe this happened. This _wouldn't_ have happened if we were paying attention!"

"I agree with you on that, but there's nothing we can do to change what happened. We just have to learn from our mistakes."

"Yeah, and this mistake nearly killed our child." Hermione mumbled.

Draco sighed.

"We're just going to have to make sure nothing like this ever happens again." He said to her.

"Nothing like this better happen again."

Just then the little boy in her arms stirred and opened his eyes. He saw Draco and Hermione staring down at him and quickly got up in a standing position. He looked down to his feet, too afraid to look at his mommy and daddy.

"Owen…" Hermione began, but was cut off by the frantic little boy.

"Mommy, I'm so sowwy! I didn't want to hurt Eleina! I was only playing! I…"

"Woah, slow down, sweet heart."

"I'm sowwy!" Owen cried and the tears started again.

Hermione opened her arms and the little boy ran into her them, burying his head in her neck. Hermione could feel the hot tears on her neck and she patted Owen's head to soothe his cries.

"It's alright, darling. Eleina is going to be all better. I know it was an accident. Don't cry, baby." Hermione comforted him and rubbed his back, but Owen wouldn't stop crying.

Hermione looked over at Draco, who was watching them from the side, with a look in her eyes that said 'Help'. Draco sighed and lightly pulled on Owen's arm so that he was facing him. Owen was sniffing and wiping his eyes with his tiny hands, but didn't look up at Draco.

"Owen, look at me." Draco said.

Owen slowly lifted his head and looked at Draco straight in the eye, although tears still clung to his eyes. Draco smiled a little and wiped them away.

"Listen, son, everyone makes a mistake sometimes, even mommy and daddy. You didn't mean for Eleina to get hurt, mommy and daddy know that, okay?" Draco said, Owen nodded. "Now Eleina is going to be fine, but we will not be going outside to play in the snow anymore."

Draco looked to Hermione for an approval. She nodded at him, letting him know that he said the right thing, and he gave her a short nod back before looking back to Owen.

"Got that?"

"Ye...yes, daddy." The boy replied. Draco pulled him into a hug just as the door behind them opened and out stepped Madam Pomfrey with little Eleina in her arms, awake and refreshed. A smile appeared on her tiny face once she saw Draco and Hermione.

Hermione leaped from her sitting position so fast that she almost lost balanced, but she didn't care. She never felt so relieved in her life and had the biggest smile on her face. The smile was so big that it hurt, but it never left her face and it grew even bigger (if that's even possible) once she held Eleina in her arms. She laid a big kiss on Eleina's chubby left cheek as the little girl placed her small hands on Hermione's face.

"Hi, mommy!" Eleina chirped and Hermione felt her heart swell. The little girl sounded so alive that it seemed as if she didn't even hit her head a few minutes ago. She was the cheerful girl that Hermione loved so much.

"Hi, baby girl." Hermione smiled and hugged her tight.

Eleina looked over Hermione's shoulder and spotted Draco holding a still crying Owen. She smiled at Draco and slightly pulled away from Hermione so she could talk to her dad.

"Hi, daddy! Why is O-en crying?"

"He's sad because you fell and hit your head. He thinks it's all his fault and that he hurt you really badly." Draco said, walking closer to her and Hermione.

"No, you didn't, O-en." Eleina said to her brother, "Look! I'm fine, see?"

Eleina then hits herself in the forehead with her hand two times. It happened so fast that Hermione gasped and blinked a couple of times. Draco just stared at his daughter. Owen, that silly boy, laughed. He actually laughed at the action, like it's the funnies thing he had ever seen, which causes Eleina to laugh too and starts whacking herself in the head again. After the third time, Hermione finally comes to her senses and took hold of Eleina's hand so that she couldn't keep hitting herself and cause serious damage.

"Eleina, do not do that to yourself." Hermione said in stern voice.

"But it's funny!"

"No, it is not funny, now I don't want you to hit yourself or your brother or anyone else for that matter. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mommy."

"And that goes for you too, Owen."

Owen nodded, but the giggles were still in him and she could tell that Eleina was about to burst into her own giggles. Hermione sighed and shook her head at her kids.

"My, my, Granger, the responsible parent finally comes out." Draco said to her as they walked back to their room.

"What do you mean it _finally _comes out? I'm always a responsible parent!"

"Well you weren't one a few minutes ago when Eleina hit her head."

Hermione stopped suddenly and gaped at him. She couldn't believe he just said something like that to her. If she hadn't been holding Eleina in her arms, she probably would've smacked the living crap out of him. And then she was reminded of what she told Owen and Eleina about hitting and decided it was a good idea that she did have Eleina in her arms. She wouldn't want to set a bad example and be a hypocrite. But still, she couldn't believe he said that!

"Are you kidding me?! It was as much your fault as it was mine! I didn't see _you _being the responsible parent."

"Calm down, Granger. I was only messing with you." Draco chuckled and started walking away.

"The nerve of that guy…" Hermione mumbled before following behind with an evil glare.

* * *

"Hermione! I heard what happened. How's Eleina?" Harry asked the next morning at breakfast.

"She's perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern, Harry." Hermione smiled at him before taking a bite of her toast.

"What happened?" Ron asked, mouth full of food. Hermione scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Don't speak with your mouth full of food, Ronald." Hermione said in a motherly tone. Ron just rolled his eyes. "Eleina hit her head yesterday when she was playing in the snow."

"Why weren't you watching your kids, Hermione?"

"Hey, why is everyone pointing the blame on me? Malfoy wasn't there either. We were looking away for a few minutes. We stayed close and didn't think anything drastic would've happened."

Hermione told them, leaving out the part where she and Draco were having their little snow ball fight. Oh, she definitely left out the part where they were about to kiss.

"Speaking of which, where's Draco?" Pansy, who had been sitting next to Harry the whole time listening, asked.

"He went to go drop off Eleina and Owen at the children center. He should be here soon."

Just as Hermione finished the sentence, Draco entered the Great Hall and sat down next to her. They both shared a smile before Hermione resumed eating and Draco poured himself a glass of juice. A few moments later, the Great Hall was silenced by the clinking of a glass coming from the front of the room followed by

"Could I have all your attention, please?" From Dumbledore.

Every student stopped eating and looked over to their headmaster.

"I just want to make a quick announcement involving all the sixth year students taking the Family Life class. I would like to have a brief meeting with all of you this morning after breakfast. Please meet me in the usual classroom. Thank you and enjoy the rest of breakfast." Dumbledore said and sat back down.

"I wonder what Dumbledore wants to talk to us about." Hermione said, receiving shrugs from all around her and shrugged herself.

After breakfast, all the Family Life students made their way to their classroom, still wondering what Dumbledore had in store for them. They each took a seat next to their respective partners. Hermione and Draco sat near the front of the classroom along with Ron, Millicent, Pansy, and Harry. Dumbledore arrived shortly and all the students became silent.

"Thank you all for coming to this important meeting. I will try to make this as short as possible and you all will be excused for being late to your classes, but I do have a couple of things I would like to say." Dumbledore started, with a twinkle in his eyes. "First of all, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far into our newest class. I know it's been very hard for some of you, especially those who have more than one child." Dumbledore eyed Ron and Millicent, specifically, with a light grin. Ron smiled weakly.

"Now, while I am on the topic, this class is nearing its end. There is just a little more than a month left and then that's it. No longer will you have to deal with being a parent."

Surprisingly, there were some "aw's" coming from the students. Dumbledore chuckled lightly.

"I knew some of you would feel that way, and it's partly my fault. I should've informed you to not get too attached to the little ones, but of course it's inevitable. It's just the way it is and I'm sorry to say that once this class is over, they will be gone. Again, I am sorry to say that."

Hermione felt the tears forming in her eyes and she could tell that she wasn't the only one by the sound of the sniffles around the classroom. Draco placed his hand on top of hers and lightly squeezed it. She turned to see him giving her a small smile.

"Professor?" Dean Thomas raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas."

"Will we be able to have our kids around during the holidays?"

"That all depends, Mr. Thomas. If any of you are going home for the holidays, then the answer is no. I cannot allow them to be away from the school. That would cause too much chaos and confusion to those who don't know about this class. However, if you do decide to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, then the answer is yes, of course."

Mumbles were heard around the classroom as each pair started to talk about their plans for the holidays. From the sound of it, most of them wanted to stay at school.

"One last thing before I let you off," Dumbledore began, and the classroom became quite again, "One of the questions that I have been asked many times from various students is about the pace at which their children have been growing. Some of you might have noticed, and some of you might have not, that your child(s) have grown tremendously since you first had them. That is because I placed a charm on them and they are special in the fact that they grow at a much faster pace than a normal child. I did this so that you'll be able to have experience with a different range of ages among the children."

Hermione raised her eyes. She hadn't even noticed the change in Owen or Eleina, but now that she thought about it they did seem to have reached a much older age in the past weeks, something a normal child definitely would not be able to do. They were no longer one year olds and they definitely don't act like one year olds anymore, that's for sure. She looked over to at Draco and could tell that he was also surprised at this.

"Did you notice their change?" Hermione whispered to him.

"No, did you?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Maybe it's because we're always with them, so we don't notice it." Draco suggested.

"Maybe." Hermione replied before they turned their attention back to Dumbledore.

"Are there anymore questions?" Dumbledore asked. No one raised their hands. "Very well, then. If you do come upon any questions, you know where to find me. Now, off you go." Dumbledore gave them one last smile as the students got up to go back to their classes that they already missed half an hour of.

Hermione and Draco walked out together and stopped in front of the doors, each having to go the opposite direction.

"So, are you going to be staying for the holidays?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I want to be with Eleina and Owen as much as possible before they have to leave us." Hermione said. Draco nodded. "Are you staying? I mean, it's fine if you don't want to. I understand if you want to spend time with your family. I can handle the two of them by myself. It's.."

"Hermione, shut up. I'm staying."

"Hey, don't tell me to shut up."

"Fine, fine. There's no use in saying it anyways. Not like you would do it."

"Draco Malfoy, I'm this close to hexing you right now."

"Let's see you do it."

"You're lucky I care about being here, or else I would."

They both stared at each other, daring for the other to say another word, but instead a smile grew on both their faces.

"I don't have time to deal with you, Draco. I have classes to attend and you do too. You don't want to be late anymore than you already are." Hermione said turning around and walking off in the opposite direction.

"Who says I'm going to my classes today?" Draco yelled at her.

"You better!" Hermione yelled back without even looking back at him.

Draco chuckled and walked off towards his own class.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Draco strolled down the corridor with Owen in his arms. He told Hermione that he would be going to visit Pansy for a while because there was something important he needed to discuss with her. He was about to leave when Hermione asked if he could take Owen with him since Eleina is napping and she wanted to nap as well. Draco wanted to say no, but of course he gave in and agreed to take Owen with him.

"Where are we going, daddy?" Owen asked. "Can we go play outside in the snow?"

"Not right now. We're going to visit Aunt Pansy."

"Can we play in the snow after?"

"Maybe…but you have to ask mommy first."

"But she's going to say no." Owen said with a pout. Draco couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Well then, sorry, but if mommy says no then it's a no."

"But if you say yes, then it's a yes!"

"Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. We don't want mommy getting mad at us, do we?"

Owen shook his head ferociously.

"Then whatever she says we have to follow." Draco concluded as they reach the Potter's room. He walked into room to find Harry sitting on the couch reading the Daily Prophet. He looked around for Pansy, but she was nowhere in sight. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Harry beat him to it.

"Pansy's upstairs with Isabelle." Harry said without even glancing at Draco.

"Thanks, Potter." Draco drawled.

"Thanks, Potter." Owen mimicked.

Harry looked up surprised. He hadn't noticed Owen in Draco's arms when he sensed Draco walking in. It was rude what Owen called him, but he smiled anyways.

"Owen, that was not very polite." Draco told his son, although he too thought it was pretty funny that Owen called him Potter. He felt somewhat proud and wanted to smile, but he knew he had to set a good example. "Apologize to Uncle Harry."

"Sorry, Uncle Hawwy." Owen apologized with a sad look on his face.

"It's all right, Owen. Don't worry about it." Harry smiled, causing Owen to have a smile of his own.

Draco walked up the stairs and into Isabelle's room. He found Pansy scrambling through her book bag for something while Isabelle sat on the floor playing with some dolls. He knocked on the door lightly to let Pansy know that someone was coming in. She looked up and smiled when she saw Draco with Owen and dropped her book bag onto the couch as she approached the two.

"Hey Draco." Pansy greeted, but he eyes were locked on Owen. "Hello, little Owen! Oh my, you are such a big boy now! Did you come to visit Aunt Pansy?" She reached her arms and plucked Owen from Draco to hold him in her arms.

"Hi Aunt Pansy! You look lovely today." Owen said.

"Aren't you the little charmer?" Pansy laughed.

"Learned from his father." Draco joined in.

"I'm sure he did." Pansy grinned. "So, what brings you two here?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

Pansy placed Owen on the floor next to Isabelle. "Hey Izzy, play with baby Owen while mommy speaks to uncle Draco, okay?"

Isabelle nodded her had and smiled as she gave Owen some toys.

"What's on your mind, Draco?" Pansy asked and sat down on the couch. She patted the space next to her, indicating that she wanted Draco to sit. He walked over and sat down.

"I need your help with something."

"Oh? What is it?" Pansy asked with raised eyes.

"I need you to help me pick a Christmas gift for Hermione."

"You want me to help you pick a gift for a girl that I barely even know anything about? Shouldn't you be asking Potter or Weasley to help you?"

"Well, I thought that since Hermione is a girl and you're a girl, you would know what kind of stuff she would like."

Pansy let out a laugh.

"Just because we're both girls doesn't mean we like the same things, Draco."

"So, you're not going to help me?" Draco questioned, but it came out more like a statement than anything.

"I don't know anything about her, Draco! Except that she's a bookworm, maybe you can buy her some books."

"That's so original and thoughtful, Pans." Draco said sarcastically.

Pansy rolled her eyes at him. "It was just a suggestion…and it's not like she doesn't. Everyone knows that the girl loves to read."

"Yes, well then they can get her books, but I'm not going to."

"How about some new robes or…maybe jewelry? Every girl loves jewelry. I love jewelry." Pansy paused for a moment. "By the way, what are you getting _me _for Christmas?"

"Nothing."

"What?! But I'm your best friend!" Pansy exclaimed with a hurtful look on her face.

"Relax, Pansy, I was just kidding. Of course I'll be getting you a gift, like I do every year. And like every year I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to find out the day of."

"Fine, but I'm just putting it out there that I like jewels."

"Yes, I know that." Draco laughed. "Now, can we get back to the subject of Hermione?"

Pansy stopped for a moment to think. "I'm sorry, Draco, but I really don't have any other suggestions."

Draco sighed. "It's okay, I kind of had a feeling this would happen. I'll just continue thinking about it myself."

"I'm sure you'll think of something great. You always do."

"Daddy, what's chwismas?" Owen asked, getting up from the floor and running over to Draco.

"It's a holiday, sweetheart." Pansy answered for him. "For Christmas, everyone exchange gifts with their friends and family."

"But why?"

Draco and Pansy looked at each other, both of them not knowing the answer two that.

"No one knows why. We just…do." Draco answered, hoping that it would be a good enough answer.

"Okay!" Owen said and ran off to play with Isabelle again.

Draco and Pansy couldn't help but let out a laugh at the little boy.

"What were you doing before we walked in? You looked like you were trying to fish something out of your bag." Draco said.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me." Pansy jumped up from her seat and grabbed her bag. "Could you watch Isabelle while I run to get my potions book from the classroom real quick?"

"Actually, Owen and I have to get going. Hermione is probably wondering why we're here for so long."

That was a lie. Hermione was probably still napping, but Draco did not feel like babysitting today even if it was just for a few minutes, in fact he hoped to never have to babysit.

"You've only been here for twenty minutes, Draco." Pansy said with narrowed eyes.

"Really? It felt longer, well we have to get going anyways. Sorry Pans." Draco walked over and picked Owen up in his arms. "See you later, Izzy."

"Bye, Uncle Draco! Bye Owen!" Isabelle waved and turned her attention back to her toys.

"Potter's down stairs, you should ask him to look after his own daughter." Draco said over his shoulder before leaving the room.

Pansy shook her had at him, but smiled in spite of it. "Come on, Izzy, let's see what your father is up to."

* * *

"When can we go outside to play in the snow?" Owen asked.

"A little bit later, not right now." Hermione replied.

After Draco and Owen returned from their visit to the Potter's, Owen had asked Hermione if they could go outside to play, despite Draco's warning. He had expected Hermione to say no, of course, with what happened before. But surprising she had agreed to it.

"Mommy, why are you planting the tree next to the window?" Eleina asked as she sat on the couch along with Owen.

"It's so small! It's a baby tree!" Owen chimed in.

"I'm not planting a tree, sweetie, I'm just putting it here in celebration of Christmas. Remember how I explained it to you before?" Hermione replied.

"Oh, we get to put things on the tree!" Owen exclaimed and started bouncing on the couch from excitement causing his sister to follow.

Hermione smiled at them and turned her attention back to placing the tree just the way she wanted it. It had to be at the right spot at the right angle. Draco walked in a few minutes later with a box of decorations and a look of annoyance on his face. He placed the box on the floor next to the tree and stood up to stretch. Once the box was settled on the floor, Owen and Eleina took no time to rush over and start rummaging through it, throwing everything out onto the floor.

"Don't make a mess, please." Hermione called from behind the tree.

"Honestly Hermione, couldn't we just us magic to decorate the Christmas tree? It'll take all day, if we don't."

"Don't be silly, Draco. The tree is barely three feet tall and there are four of us. It is not going to take all day to decorate it."

"Why do we have to hand put every single thing on there?"

"Because it's more fun this way and I'm sure Owen and Eleina will love decorating the tree themselves. They are too young to do magic so this is how we will do it." Hermione explained, beginning to get a little irritated at him.

"Fine, fine." Draco put his hand up in defeat, not wanting to get into an argument when this was supposed to be a fun bonding time, the way Hermione called it.

Half an hour later, the tree was almost finished with the only thing missing is the star at the top of the tree. Draco didn't want to admit it, but decorating without magic wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He even found himself enjoying it most of the time. He loved watching how much fun and how happy Owen and Eleina looked when they would place an ornament on one of the branches. Him and Hermione would share a smile with each other when one of the little ones would let out a joyous laugh.

"Alright, who wants to be the one to put the star at the top?" Hermione asked, looking down at her kids, but as soon as she did she regretted it.

"I do! I do!" Eleina exclaimed jumping up and down with her hand raised in the air as high as she could reach.

"Me! Me!" Owen shouted, also jumping up and down with a raised hand.

"No, I'm doing it!" Eleina yelled at Owen.

"No, I am!" Owen argued back.

"No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am!"

Before Hermione and Draco could even get the chance to stop their fight, Eleina reached back and slapped her brother on the arm. Owen, who was surprised at the attack, started crying out loudly, but that didn't stop him from hitting his sister back causing her to cry also. The two then began to hit each other back and forth.

Hermione's eyes went wide at the situation in front of her, shocked out how violent the two acted towards each other. Draco, on the other hand, was angered by their behavior.

"Stop!" Draco called out in a loud and strict voice causing both of them to stop crying and hitting at once. "You two are in really big trouble and neither of you will be putting the star at the top of the tree."

"Owen started it!"

"Eleina hit me first!"

"Enough!" Draco was beginning to get really frustrated and had to restrain himself from going overboard. "We never ever hit another person, especially if they are your sister or brother or anyone else you are related to. It doesn't matter who did what first. You both hit each other and you both are in trouble for it."

"But, daddy…" Eleina tried.

Draco just shook his head with a frown still on his face.

"Mommy?" Owen looked to Hermione.

"I agree with your father. You two know better than to hit each other." Hermione finally said and with a flick of her wand, the star floated up and settled itself on top of the tree. And another flick caused the whole tree to light up.

All was forgotten as the bright lights illuminated the whole room with its divine colors. Little gasps could be heard from Owen and Eleina when they watch the lights dance around the tree. The ornaments spun around in their own accord, dancing along with the lights. The angel ornaments flew around the tree and landing in different spots, but always coming back to their original place. It was quite the magical Christmas tree. Hermione smiled at their finished tree. Draco, unknowingly, was smiling too.

"It's so pretty!" Eleina exclaimed. "It's my favorite thing ever!"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Hermione ran up to the bedroom and came out a few seconds later with three wrapped presents in her arms. She placed them under the tree and brushed her hands together, satisfied.

"Are those for us?" Owen asked.

"Yes, but you may not open them until Christmas Day." Hermione answered, and then turned to Draco. "Did you get your gifts yet?"

"Oh, um, almost." Draco replied. It was the truth, he did have Owen and Eleina's gifts, but he still hadn't even thought of what he would be getting Hermione.

"Well, place them under the tree when you do."

Draco nodded his head and helped Hermione clean up the left over decorations, putting them back in the box.

"Can we go play in the snow now?" Owen asked, that thought never left his mind.

"No, you two are still in trouble, remember?" Hermione reminded them. "As your punishment, we will not be going out to play in the snow."

Owen and Eleina both open their mouths to protest, but Draco wouldn't allow it.

"Don't even start…" Draco said to them and they both shut their mouths quick.

"It's dinner then straight to bed." Hermione added.

The two kids pouted as Draco and Hermione each grabbed one of their hands and began to walk to the Great Hall for dinner. They pouted the whole way through, not saying a single word. When they arrived at the Great Hall and sat down at their usual table, they were greeted with Harry, Pansy, Ron, Millicent, and their children already eating and chatting.

"Hey Hermione, Pansy and I are throwing a Christmas Eve party. We'd love for you and Malfoy to come. Bring the little ones, of course." Harry said once they settled down at the table.

"Of course we'll be there!" Hermione replied. She looked over to Owen and Eleina, but they still had their pouts attached.

"What's with the long faces?" Ron asked.

"They're upset because they got in trouble and are no longer aloud to play outside. It's straight to bed after dinner." Hermione informed him, while she scooped food onto Owen and Eleina's plates. "Eat." She told them and began to gather her own dinner.

Ron leaned in close to Owen, who was sitting next to him, and whispered into his ear. "Don't let mommy put you down. She can be really mean sometimes, I know from first hand experience. Uncle Ron will take you and your sister out to play later, okay?"

Owen's face suddenly lit up. He nodded happily and began to eat his dinner with a smile on his face. Ron sat back straight and smiled down at the happy little boy. Little did he know that Hermione heard it all.

"Nice try, Ron, but if you even think about going against my parenting rules, then Owen and Eleina won't be the only ones who are going to be in trouble with me." Hermione said without even glancing up from her dinner.

"Sorry, mate." Ron said to Owen and they both ate dinner with a frown on their faces.

After dinner, everyone bid their goodnights. All the other families were going outside to enjoy some time in the snow, but the Malfoy's had other plans. Hermione bathed Owen and Eleina while Draco gathered their pajamas. When bath time was done, Hermione and Draco carried their kids into the bedroom to tuck them in. But right when Owen and Eleina were set in bed they rushed to the window and pressed their little hands and faces on it to look out at the other kids playing in the snow.

"What are you two doing?" Hermione asked, as she sat on Eleina's bed. They both turned around and gave her and Draco the saddest look they could possibly put on their little faces and turned back around to look out the window, again.

"That's not going to work with us." Draco commented.

"Can't we stay up? We're not even tired." Owen said.

"Yeah, we'll stay inside and play. I don't want to sleep yet." Eleina added.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you off without any punishment for your bad behaviors." Hermione said strictly.

They pretended not to hear and continued to stare out the window.

"Bed time, now." Draco ordered and walked over to them so that they got the message loud and clear.

"You're mean!" Both of the kids cried and ran over to their beds, clearly upset over this.

"I've heard worse." Draco mumbled as he walked over to tuck them in.

They wouldn't have any of it and every time Draco and Hermione tried to lean down to kiss them on the cheek they would turn away. Draco just shook his head at them and got up to turn off the lights, Hermione trailing behind him and closed the door as they stepped into the hallway. She turned around to stare at the closed door, her shoulders slightly slumped.

"Don't worry about them, Hermione. They'll fall asleep soon and forget about the whole thing." Draco comforted and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and nodded at him before going into their own bed room.

Hermione slipped into bed as Draco did the same. They laid in silence for a while when Hermione tossed in her bed and sighed.

"Are you still thinking about them?" Draco asked in the dark from across the room.

"Yes." Came a quiet reply.

"They're just upset right now, but they'll get over it and tomorrow will be another day."

"No, it's not that. I...I'm just thinking about not being able to see them anymore. Draco, after a few more weeks we won't have them anymore and...I don't think I'm ready to let them go just yet." Hermione confessed, a slight pain in her heart as she said this.

"It's going to be difficult for all of us, Hermione. But we'll get through it, I promise. We'll get through it together." Draco said sincerely.

Hermione nodded even though Draco couldn't see it. "Thanks, Draco."

"Anytime."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

Draco closed his eyes, looking for a good night's sleep, but right before he fell into a deep slumber he finally figured out what he would be getting Hermione for Christmas.

* * *

**A/N: **I am soo sorry I haven't updated this story in months! I've been having a horrible writer's block and could never find the time to sit down and actually write. But I do plan to finish up this fic because I don't want to disappoint you guys. Hopefully I can finish up soon so that you don't have to wait so long for the next chapter. So sorry again, and thank you for continuing to read and review this fic!

-CHIBZ


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The morning of Christmas Eve was the coldest day of winter, yet. Hermione woke up shivering and, with her eyes still closed, frantically bunched together and wrapped the duvet tightly around herself. But that was no use. Her teeth began to chatter and goose bumps made their place on her arms and legs. Hermione sighed and decided it was too cold to be able to fall back asleep, so she got up quickly to run to the shower. The thought of a hot shower made her walk faster towards the bathroom, as fast as her numb legs would take her.

Hermione was in such thought about the warm shower that she nearly ran right into the bathroom door. Which, in fact, was closed. A frown grew on her face when she heard the water running and a faint humming coming from inside. Hermione lifted up a fist and was about to pound on the door when the water stopped. A minute later the door opened. Steam poured out at if she just opened a oven that had over cooked whatever was inside.

Hermione had to take a couple of steps back before the steam would capture her in itself. As she took one last step back, out came Draco, in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waste. Hermione felt her cheeks grow pink, but she made no movement to turn and look away.

"Hermione, why are you standing outside of the bathroom?" Draco asked as he wiped his hair with another towel. Hermione stood there for a few seconds, mute, until she back to her senses.

"Oh, um, well I woke up to the freezing cold and thought it be nice to have a warm shower." Hermione answered, trying very hard to keep her eyes on his instead of letting them wander. Draco made a face, one of guilt. Hermione saw this and narrowed her eyes at him. "Please tell me there is still hot water left in there."

"Funny you should say that…" Draco let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head, but Hermione wasn't laughing. "No, there isn't."

"Great, just great!" Hermione exclaimed and threw her hands in the air.

"Just wait an hour or so." Draco recommended as he made his way back to their bedroom. Hermione glared at the back of his head as she followed him.

"I'm freezing!" Hermione said to him and threw herself onto the bed, wrapping the duvet tightly around herself once again.

"Did it ever occur to you that you could wear a coat?"

"I want a shower with hot water!"

Draco rolled his eyes at her being overly dramatic. He didn't even think it was that cold. Hermione just stared at him as he put on a shirt. Her eyes went wide.

"Wha…what are you doing?" She stammered.

"Getting dressed." Draco said, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, well it sort of was, then a sly grin appeared on his face. "I know you like what you're seeing, Granger, but I do plan to be clothed during the day especially since it's winter."

Hermione glared at him. "That was not what I was implying."

"Whatever you say," Draco said with the grin still on his face.

"I meant, what are you doing dressing while _I'm_ here."

"Geez, Granger, I was just putting a shirt on. I wasn't on planning on taking this towel off in front of you, unless that is if you want me to." Draco wiggled his eyebrows at her. Hermione made a noise of disgust and threw a pillow at him. Draco ducked just in time. "Learn to take a joke." He said before grabbing the rest of his things and leaving the room.

Hermione heard the bathroom door close seconds later and shook her head at him. She got up to put on a large coat and decided to go check on Owen and Eleina. Upon entering the room, she nearly stumbled on the toys scattered on the floor. Hermione couldn't even remember how they got so many toys. She threw that thought aside and made her way to the beds. Both of them were still asleep. She slowly sat down at the end of Owen's bed, as that was the one closet to her, so that she would not wake him.

She looked down at this tiny face and looked over to Eleina. She felt her heart become heavy and her throat started to tighten. Hermione lowered her head and closed her eyes so that the tears could not escape them, but that just made her eyes burn and she had to open them again, letting the tears fall freely. She wiped them away and let out a sniffle.

"Mommy?" Came a tiny and sleepy voice. Hermione lifted her head and saw that Owen had awoken. "Why are you crying?"

"I…" Hermione want to deny it, but her voice cracked.

"Because daddy used all the hot water and she couldn't take a shower."

Hermione shot her head towards the doorway, where Draco's voice came from, and saw him leaning on the doorframe. She quickly wiped her face dry and looked back to Owen, wondering how long Draco had been standing there.

"Don't cry, mommy. The hot water will come back. I know because it does every night you give me and Elaina a bath."

Hermione let out a laugh. She didn't know whether or not to be embarrassed that her son thinks she was crying over the temperature of water, even though that wasn't the truth.

"Don't listen to your father. He's lying." Hermione said to him.

"Then why are you sad?" Came a tiny voice from the other bed.

Hermione looked over to her daughter, who had woken up. She just shook her head with a smile.

"It's nothing. Now, let's get you two ready for breakfast and then we can go play outside!" Hermione announced with a clap of her hands.

At the mention of having the chance to play out in the snow for the first time since the last incident, all thoughts left their heads as Owen and Eleina jumped to their feet and ran out towards the bathroom to brush their teeth. Hermione got up to follow, but right as she passed Draco, who was still standing in the doorway, she felt his hand grab her. She looked up shocked at his sudden action until he reached a hand up to her face.

"You missed one." Draco whispered as his thumb graced the left side of her cheek, where a tear had been claiming its place.

Hermione stared deep into his silver eyes. It was strange how intense the feeling was and yet it was so calm at the same time. It was like something she never felt before and for some strange reason at that moment there seemed to be a magnetic force pulling them together, slowly. Their faces were inches apart and Hermione could feel Draco's light breathing. She closed her eyes as her heart started to beat faster and faster. Hermione was ready to take whatever was coming…

"Come on, mommy! Let's go!"

But what came wasn't what Hermione had expected at all. She felt two little hands grab her cloak and started to tug her towards the closet to help them get dressed. Hermione opened her eyes wide in more shock than when Draco grabbed her earlier. She became embarrassed at what almost happened and by the look of Draco's face, he seemed to be feeling the same thing.

"Um, yes, you should probably help them get dressed. I'll be waiting downstairs." Draco said hurriedly and left the room before Hermione could even slip in a word.

* * *

The rest of the morning was a bit awkward between Hermione and Draco. The though of almost having their first kiss was lingering in the back of both of their minds. During breakfast they sat apart from each other. Owen and Eleina were placed in between them. They didn't talk much during that time. It was only times when Pansy and Harry were speaking to them about their Christmas Eve party later that evening did both Draco and Hermione contribute in the same conversation.

After breakfast, Hermione asked Harry, Pansy, Ron, and Millicent if they wanted to take their children out to play with them since Hermione did tell Owen and Eleina that they would be playing outside after eating their breakfast. Something Owen and Eleina kept reminding Hermione.

"You said that we could go outside." Owen would saw to her.

"Yes, I did say that." Hermione responded.

"Remember mommy, we're playing in the snow after this." Eleina would say a few minutes later.

"I remember." Hermione reassured her.

"You're letting them go outside to play? Wow Hermione, I'm surprised." Ron commented as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. Hermione just glared at him, but she did ask them to join which they agreed.

The children were now playing together in what seemed to be a small snowball fight. All the 'parents' sat at a near by table talking about how strange it'll be to not have the responsibility of being a parent anymore in a few days. Hermione, however, had gotten up and walked closer towards where the children were playing, paying close attention to them. She was stilling feeling a little nervous allowing them to play so roughly with each other, which they really weren't, but she couldn't help the feeling of going through that again.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Hermione turned to her side and smiled at Harry.

"Well, you don't look like it. Something happened with you and Malfoy? You two didn't talk much during breakfast."

"No, nothing happened." Hermione said a little too quickly which made Harry raise an eyebrow.

"Really, Hermione? You're going to lie to your best friend?"

"I'm not lying." Hermione tried, but it didn't work. Harry gave her that I'm-not-going-to-stop-asking-until-you-tell-me-the-truth look. "Okay, fine. Something did…happen, well almost."

"I knew it!"

"What do you mean you knew it? You don't even know what it is!"

"Come on, Hermione, there's only one thing that could've possibly "almost" happened that you would be so nervous to talk about."

"There's not only _one_ thing."

"Well that may be true, but it's not like you almost slept with him so it's has to be the other." Harry said. Hermione was so in shock that Harry would actually think of that that she was speechless. When Hermione didn't respond to what he said, Harry's face turned into anger.

"Hermione, please tell me you did not almost have you know what with Malfoy." Harry said firmly, but made sure not to say the actual word incase one of the children heard him.

"What?!" Hermione finally regained her voice. She shook her head violently at the mere thought of that. "No, absolutely not!"

"Good."

"No, it wasn't that." Hermione confirmed again.

"Well, then my first guess was correct."

Hermione just nodded.

"I could tell something was going on between you two."

"That wasn't even supposed to happen. It_ didn't _happen, but it shouldn't have _almost_ happened either. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all." Harry answered. Hermione frowned at him, but he just let out a laugh. "I'm not surprised it almost happened. He fancies you."

"What?!" Hermione nearly yelled. "How do you know? You two barely talk to each other, why would he tell you something like that?"

"I can tell. The way he acts when you're around, it's different."

"It's just cause he wants to set a good example for Owen and Eleina."

Harry shakes his head. " And the way he looks at you when you're not looking. He's changed because of you, Hermione. It may not be a whole lot, but there's something. You may not see it, but that's cause you're with him most of the time. From an outside perspective, you can just tell. Pansy sees it too."

Hermione was once again speechless and could feel herself begin to blush. Harry saw this and smiled. He decided to change the subject for the sake of his friend.

"So, why are you standing over here and not joining us at the table? I mean, you were the one who asked us to come outside."

"I just felt a little uncomfortable sitting over there, with the talk about all this being over. It just makes me really sad and I really don't want to think about this being over."

"I know what you mean, Hermione." Harry sighed. "This experience has definitely been an interesting one. I mean, giving us the responsibility of taking care of a child and in yours and Ron's case, more than one. We're still kids ourselves. And to be paired up with Slytherins? They're lucky we got along as well as we did. I'm surprised we got along as well as we did."

"Tell me about it." Hermione mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. I…I mean, I agree with you." Hermione said. "Don't get me wrong, I'll definitely like not having to be a parent anymore, but it's just that we've grown so close to them and then to just have them disappear so quickly. I don't know how I'll handle it."

"It's going to be difficult, Hermione, no doubt about that, but we'll get through it. We're all going to have to go through it and I'm sure everyone, no matter if they try to deny it or not, will be feeling down when the day comes to say goodbye. We'll get through it together and just think, we'll have some great memories to think of when its all over."

"You're right, Harry." Hermione smiled. "Thank you."

Harry returned her smile and gave her a small hug.

"What's…um, going on here?" Came a voice from behind them.

"I was just giving my friend here a hug. Got a problem with that, Malfoy?" Harry asked with a sly smile on his face. He left his arm around Hermione's waist even after their hug, knowing that it would annoy Draco. And it did, but Draco didn't show it.

"Pansy needs you. Something about setting up for tonight's party."

"Oh, great." Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll see you later, Hermione." He gave her one last hug and a kiss on the forehead wanting to rile up Draco a bit more before walking off and letting out a subtle laugh as he walked past Malfoy. Hermione was confused at his actions, but Malfoy couldn't hold the annoyance waiting to show on his face any longer.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"Beats me." Hermione replied.

Draco was going to ask what she meant by that, but Owen and Eleina came running towards them. There were two separate mounds of snow behind them. Both had sticks coming out from the side and rocks were placed on the front of the mound of snow. Both looked almost identical except for the placing of the sticks and rocks.

"Look, look! I maded a snowman!" Eleina cried proudly at them and pointed to her work.

"No look at mine! It's better!" Owen claimed.

"No mine is!"

"Mine is!"

"Alright, that's enough." Draco cut in before they got any louder. "We don't want what happened a few nights ago to happen again, do we?"

"And this time your punishment would've been not being aloud to go to Uncle Harry and Aunt Pansy's party." Hermione added.

Owen and Eleina both shook their heads quickly.

"No, please let us go!" Owen cried.

"We'll promise to be good!" Eleina chimed along.

"That sounds much better." Hermione smiled at them. "Now, let's go inside and get you two out of these cold clothes."

* * *

Draco checked the clock in the bedroom. Just in time. He grabbed his coat and walked to Owen and Eleina's room where Hermione was.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Professor Snape needs to talk to me about something." Draco said to Hermione as she dressed Owen and Eleina in their nice robes for the party.

"But we'll be leaving for the party soon." Hermione said.

"Then, you three go ahead. I'll meet you there." Draco told her and threw on his coat as he walked out the door. He walked down the corridor, towards the dungeons. He made his way to Snape's classroom and found him at his desk. It was true that Draco was going down to see Snape, but it was more like Draco needing to see the professor instead of the other way around, like he so claimed.

"Ah, Mister Malfoy, you've finally showed up." Snape put down his quill and looked at the blonde boy.

"Do you have what I requested from you?" Draco asked, getting straight to the point.

"Perhaps." Snape replied.

"You agreed to have it by five thirty today. I've already waited too long to get this."

"My, my, no time for chit chatting I suppose?"

"Potter and Pansy are throwing a party. I have to be there soon."

"Ridiculous how you've all become, dare I say…friends? I never thought I'd see the day."

"We're not friends. Now, do you have it or not?" Draco was getting impatient, but Snape was not going to have any of it.

"Mister Malfoy, I do not allow that type of tone when you're speaking to me."

"Sorry, professor." Draco said, but he was still frowning.

"Here, take it and leave." He snapped, clearly annoyed.

Snape threw Draco a small box and returned his attention to his quill and whatever he been working on before Draco entered with a glare on his face. However, Draco walked out of the classroom with a smile as he carried the box tightly in his hands.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Wow, this looks amazing." Hermione commented as she walked into Harry and Pansy's dorm.

The whole living room and kitchen was decorated with Christmas lights and décor. There were snowflakes falling from the ceiling that disappeared before they got the chance to hit the ground. The fireplace was lit and roaring with delight and the flames danced around with excitement. The dining table was filled with all kinds of refreshments. Most of the couples had already arrived and were already mingling with others. There was a dance floor in the middle of the living room where most of the students were having a fun time.

Hermione looked around for Draco, but couldn't spot his blonde hair anywhere. She sighed and hoped that he didn't decide to skip the party all together.

"Glad you like it. I worked really hard decorating all afternoon." Harry said as he handed Hermione a butterbeer. She smiled her thanks and took a sip.

"Excuse me, did I just hear you say that you worked really hard?" Pansy asked, walking up to them with Isabelle in her arms. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Pansy was quicker. "If you call sitting on the sofa the whole time complaining that it this is _so_ boring, 'working hard'."

Hermione let out a laugh, which almost ended up with butterbeer coming out of her nose.

"You made me sit there for two hours untangling all those lights! And it _was_ boring!" Harry defended.

Pansy shook her head at him and turned to Hermione. "Where are Owen and Eleina?"

"They are around somewhere. They ran off with Ron's kids once we walked in."

Pansy nodded her head and looked around. "And Draco?"

"I'm not sure where he is." Hermione shrugged and she, too, looked around some more for Draco.

"Speak of the devil." Harry said and pointed to the entrance of the dorm.

Pansy and Hermione both turned to the door to see Draco strolling in with a smirk on his face.

_What is he smirking about? _Hermione thought to herself with a frown on her face.

"Good evening! Wow, this party is really something. Nice what you've done with the place." Draco greeted them, which made Hermione's frown deepen. _Oh, he's definitely got something up his sleeve._

"What's up with you?" Harry asked; one eyebrow arched in a way that showed he was confused by Draco's behavior.

"What?" Draco asked back, a little offended. "What did I do now? I just barely walked in here!"

"Why are you so…chipper?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I've never seen you like this." Pansy added.

"It's Christmas Eve, people! The question _is_ why are you three not." Draco said with is eyebrows raised at them.

"Alright, no more butterbeer for you Mr. Malfoy." Hermione said sternly. "I can see that you've already had your fair share."

"I haven't drunk any butterbeer, yet. Lighten up, will you?"

And with that Draco walked off, criss-crossing through the crowd of people. Hermione's frown deepened and decided to follow him. She almost lost him a couple times in the crowd since he kept going around people and switching direction, and everyone dancing was in her way, but good thing his blond hair stood out.

He was acting absolutely out of character. Although he denied it, Hermione had a feeling he had drank too much butter beer. Why else would he be acting so…giddy? She finally saw him stop when he reached the side and was about to get to him when she saw him fall to the ground. Or so she thought. Hermione's eyes widened and she rushed over to him, pushing everyone out of the way, not caring that she was being rude.

When Hermione reached him, she was relieved to find out that he didn't fall or worse, faint, but he was kneeling down, talking with Owen and Eleina.

"Remember, don't tell mommy." Draco said to the two children. "Shh…"

The two children nodded quickly at their father's order.

"Don't tell mommy what?" Hermione asked, coming around and standing behind Owen and Eleina. She put her hands to her hips and looked at the kids with questioning eyes.

"None of your business, Miss Nosy." Draco answered, as he stood back up.

"I wasn't asking you." Hermione answered back and she kept her eyes on the little ones. "What did your father tell you that he doesn't want me to know?"

The two children looked back and forth from Hermione to Draco, neither one knowing what to say. Either way, they knew they would be disobeying one of their parents and they knew they would probably end up getting in trouble for it. Tears were starting to form in their little eyes.

"Look, now you've gone and made them upset. This is supposed to be a fun party, Hermione." Draco said and kneeled down to embrace Owen and Eleina. "It's okay, sweethearts. You don't have to say anything. Now, go run along and find something to play with."

The two children wiped away the tears that had slipped from their eyes and nodded as they ran off to find the other kids to play with. Draco stood back up and was ready to walk away when Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Granger, let go of me. I'm going to go and enjoy the party, which you should be doing, too."

"Not until you tell me what you had told Owen and Eleina earlier not to tell me."

"No, I'm not going to tell you. Why do you have to know everything?"

"Because!"

"Not good enough, Granger. Now, let go!" Draco pulled his arm from Hermione forcefully.

Hermione, who was holding tightly and didn't think he would pull so hard, stumbled forward…right into Draco. Draco, with his quick reflex, wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist to keep her from falling and took a couple of steps backwards so that he wouldn't fall backwards.

Yet again, they found themselves in a situation they were all too familiar with. Face inches apart from each other. Eyes locked on one another. Neither one of them spoke. The only movement was from their breathing and the pounding of their hearts as both of their hearts started to race to an incredible speed. It seemed as if time stood still and everyone that had been dancing around them stopped.

Suddenly, the sound of two people snickering could be heard from the side of them. Hermione broke their stare and looked over to see Harry and Pansy watching them with smirks on their faces. She could feel her face getting red and looked away.

"What are you two so amused with?" Draco asked, with a slightly irritated tone.

Harry and Pansy said nothing, but instead both pointed up to the ceiling. Hermione and Draco looked up to find mistletoe spinning around right above their heads. Hermione didn't know if her face could get and brighter.

Draco looked at her, saw how she got so embarrassed and was about to ask her if she wanted to walk away when he got the surprise of a lifetime. In a swift move, Hermione cupped his cheeks with her hands, pulled him towards her and planted a kiss right on his lips. Draco, who's arms never left Hermione's waist, tightened as he pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss.

Hermione felt a rush that she had never felt before. It was absolutely sensational. But just as quick as it happened, it stopped. They pulled away from each other slowly and Hermione looked up at him to find that his eyes were already fixed on her. She let a small grin form on her face just long enough so that he could see it before she took it back and walked away. Draco just stood where he was, watching her walk away from him. Just a few seconds after Hermione walked off, Pansy strolled over to stand next to Draco, with a sly grin on her face, also looking off to the crowd.

"Well, well, well. Look who got lucky there." Pansy commented, without looking at her best friend.

Draco couldn't help but smirk. He was hoping he'd get a chance to kiss Hermione that night, but he didn't think it would be that easy. And she also forgot that she was angry with him for not telling her what he said to Owen and Eleina. What luck he had, indeed…

* * *

"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Ron asked Hermione. He approached her just as she grabbed a cup of pumpkin juice from the refreshment table and took a huge gulp and swallowed.

After that kiss she gave Draco, for some reason, she felt really thirsty, as if her throat was really dry. She gave him the impression that she was calm and collected afterward, but in reality she was about to sweat a river and her vision was a little foggy, like she was in a daze. But no matter the feelings Hermione got after the kiss, she knew one thing was certain…she enjoyed it.

"What did you just see, Ron?" Hermione asked him and placed the now empty cup back on to the table. That was a silly question. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, I think I just saw you and Malfoy over there snogging."

"Hm…"Hermione pretended as if she was thinking and put her finger up to her chin. "I just gave him a kiss, but yes I think you did see what you think you saw."

Ron's eyes went wide at her response. "Since when did you and Malfoy become so friendly? No wait, friends don't just kiss each other in front of everyone. Are you two…more than friends?"

"No…"

"Did he take advantage of you, Hermione? Cause if he did I'm going to go over there and knock his teeth in! I'll do it! You just say the word and I'll march over ther…"

"Ron! Calm down. He did not take advantage of me. If anything, I was the one who started the kiss."

Ron's mouth dropped. "Hermione, wha…why?"

"Oh, pick up your mouth from the floor. We were standing under mistletoe, that's all. Don't get your knickers all twisted."

"You fancy him don't you? You wouldn't have done it if you didn't."

"I don't know." Hermione sighed. "Sometimes, I do…feel something for him, but then I think that the only reason I do is because we have Owen and Eleina. We share some sort of bond through that. But once they leave us, we won't have to live with each other anymore, we won't have to even see each other anymore and I don't know what will happen."

"Hermione, if there is something there, if you feel something for him and he feels the same way about you. It won't matter whether Owen and Eleina are here with you. It won't matter that you will no longer be living together. You two will find ways to see each other. You two will be able to work it out."

Hermione smiled. "Wow, Ron. Did you really just say all that?"

"Yea, I guess I did." Ron scratched the back of his head, surprised at himself, and let out a laugh.

"Well, I'm glad you did. I seriously thought you'd go mad from just the mere thought of us being…more than friends."

"Hermione…you're right. I would." Ron said and Hermione frowned. "But if you're happy, then I'm happy. I love you, Hermione. You know, like in a best friend sort of way, not the other way. That would be to awkward and I don't love you in that wa…"

"I get it, Ron. Love you, too." Hermione laughed.

Ron smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug.

"Wow, Hermione. You're showing everyone some love except me!"

The two of them let go of their hug and turned around to see Harry walking up to them with a playful pout on his face.

"Aw, get over here, mate." Ron said and put his arm over Harry's shoulder to drag him over and gave him a big hug. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at her best friends.

"Okay, okay. Thank you, Ron." Harry pulled out of Ron's tight grip. "Hermione, I was just coming over here to congratulate you on your kiss with Malfoy."

"Not you too, Harry. I just had this conversation with Ron." Hermione groaned. "Wait, you and Pansy had nothing to do with the mistletoe being there, did you?"

"Of course not." Harry replied, with a smirk on his face. And Hermione knew.

"Harry Potter, I'm going to get you for that!" Hermione exclaimed as she lunged herself at him. But instead of tackling him, she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug instead. Harry smiled and returned the hug.

"Now I feel left out…" Ron commented sadly. Hermione rolled her eyes and put each of her arms around both boys, standing in the middle of them. The three stood together and laughed together.

* * *

"This is the best day ever!" Eleina exclaimed as she jumped on the couch.

"I love Chwistmas!" Owen added, as he joined his sister on the couch.

Hermione had just informed them that they would be opening presents before going to bed since they had been so behaved at the Christmas party. The two kids' faces practically beamed with happiness when they found out that not only did they get to stay up way past their usual bedtime, but also they got to open presents. They didn't know what Christmas was and didn't fully understand what it meant, but they didn't really care!

"I wish it was Chwistmas everyday!" Eleina said and plopped down on the couch.

"Can I open my presents first?" Owen asked, as he jumped off the couch and ran over to Draco and Hermione, who were standing a few feet away.

"No, I want to go first!" Eleina also ran over to them.

The two were about to start arguing again, but remembered what happened the last times that they got in a fight and didn't want to get in trouble again. Then they wouldn't be able to open any presents!

"Alright, I know how to settle this." Draco said. "You two may open your presents at the same time."

The two children looked at each other and back at their parents who were smiling down at them.

"Well, what are you two waiting for? Go! Open them!" Hermione said with a little laugh.

Owen and Eleina, with the okay from their mother, rushed over to the tree and started to grab every present in site, even ones that weren't theirs.

"Whoa, slow down. Hold on one minute!" Draco said quickly and marched over to them. "We are going to do this in a more organized manner. Owen you go sit over there and Eleina, you on the other side."

The two kids got up quickly and ran over to their places. Both sat down, legs-crossed, and quietly, trying to show their parents that they were on their best behavior. Hermione and Draco handed them their presents one at time.

After about an hour of unwrapping presents and loads of new toys all over the living room floor, with breaks in between each gift so they could play with all their new toys, it was time for little ones to go to bed. They were both tired and would yawn every fifteen minutes, but they were so happy to have new toys that they wanted to continue to play with them.

"Okay, you two, time for bed." Hermione announced.

"No, I'm not even..*yawn*..sleepy." Owen responded as he rubbed his eyes with his small hand. Eleina's eyes were slowly drooping and she was about to fall over, as she was about to fall asleep.

"There will be time to play with your new toys tomorrow." Draco said and pulled Eleina into his arms and Hermione carried Owen. Even before they reached the children's room, the two kids had fallen asleep. After tucking them in and giving them kisses, Draco and Hermione went back into their own bedroom to get ready to have a good night's sleep.

"Wait!" Hermione suddenly said as she stood up from her bed and ran downstairs. A confused look came across Draco's face as he watched her run out of the room and in a matter of seconds he heard her running back upstairs and into their room with a beautifully wrapped present in her hand.

"You didn't open your present, yet." She told him and stuck the gift out in front of her for him to take. "It's from the kids…but mainly from me."

Draco took it from her and sat down on his bed to open his gift. It was quite big and he wondered what it was. As he started to unwrap it he could tell that the outer part was some sort of frame and when he took the all wrapping off he saw that it was a painted portrait of him and Hermione along with Owen and Eleina.

"I painted it myself." Hermione said after a moment of silence. "I wanted it to be original and more from me, personally. Oh, and the kids did help me out. Well, sort of. I let them put each of their hand prints on the bottom of the painting next to my signature."

"I never knew you are the artistic type." Draco commented.

"I only paint sometimes, when I get some sort of inspiration. It's okay if you don't like it. I know you're probably not use to getting something like this."

And Hermione was right. Draco wasn't use to getting something so personal like this, something that was so meaningful to him. The picture of the four of them together like a real family, a happy family who love and adore one another, something Draco never imagined he'd ever be a part of…and it definitely meant a lot to him. He finally knew what it felt like to be a part of family and he'd always of something to cherish. This gift from Hermione only confirmed it. He didn't expect a gift like this and surprisingly, especially to himself, he loved it.

"No, Granger. This is the best gift I've gotten. Thank you."

Hermione could only smile at his response. She didn't know whether or not he would appreciate her gift. After all, he is a Malfoy and Malfoys can pretty much afford anything they ever wanted. That's why she wanted to get him something that she knew he wouldn't be able to find for sale, something that was specifically from her and no one else could've given it to him. She had never painted something like this for anyone before except her parents and was a little nervous to see what his reaction would be, but was absolutely thrilled to hear that he actually liked it.

"Oh, and you have to open mine." Draco added. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small squared box.

"You got me something?" Hermione was surprised when he handed her the small gift. When she checked the presents under the tree earlier and found that there wasn't one for her from him, she had thought that he probably forgot or just didn't get her anything.

"Of course I got you something. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"Well, I didn't see it under the tree and I thou…"

"Oh, so you've been on the lookout for it. I see…"

"I was not! I just didn't see it earlier when we were opening our other gifts."

"I never got the chance to place it under the tree." He informed her. "So go ahead and open it.

Hermione opened the box and inside she found a golden heart shaped necklace. A gasp escaped her mouth as she took the necklace out of the box and placed it in the palm of her hand. The filigree around the heart was beautiful and she loved the antique look that it had.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I went over to Pansy's to ask her for some advice. Some help she was." He mumbled the last part to himself. "It's actually a locket."

Hermione looked at him, then back at the locket. She ran her fingers along the outer rim.

"Open it." Draco told her.

As soon as Hermione opened the locket, a bright light beamed from the inside and then right in front of her eyes there was a small hologram of Owen and Eleina standing on the inside of the locket. Both of their smiling faces were looking straight at her and waving happily. She didn't think it could get any better, but then they started to speak.

"I love you, mommy." Owen said, it was clear as day.

"I love you so much." Eleina added.

In a continuous vision, it went back to them smiling and waving to them repeating those same loving words over again. Hermione began to cry, both of sadness and joy. Sadness because she knew their time together would be ending soon, but joy because even if they won't be there anymore she'll still have a piece of them that she can carry for the rest of her life. She closed the locket, but kept her eyes on it. Tears still falling down her face.

"How did you ever think of this?" Hermione said, just barely above a whisper.

"Honestly, I almost went crazy trying to figure out to get you. Like I told you earlier, I went to Pansy for some advice and she's the one that gave me the idea to get you some sort of jewelry, but I didn't want to get you just some ordinary thing. I wanted it to mean something to you. And then that one night when I saw how you were feeling with the thought of never seeing Owen and Eleina again, I knew I wanted them to be a part of your gift somehow so that you'll always have them with you."

Hermione was silent, still looking at the locket. _He's brilliant_, she thought in her mind.

"Is there something wrong with it? I know it's not sparkling with jewels, it's an antique locket. But if you want I can get the person who sold it to me to add some rubies or even better, emeralds on there for you."

Hermione shook her head. "No, don't. It's perfect." She took her eyes off the locket and looked into his eyes. "Thank you, Draco."

Draco nodded his head. "Your welcome. Here, let me help you."

He took the locket from her and got up to put it around her neck. Hermione lifted her hair to make it easier for him. After he hooked the back of the necklace, he turned her around so she was facing him.

"Looks good." He said softly. Hermione let her hair fall back down onto her shoulders. A piece of hair fell over her face and she was about to put it back, but Draco beat her to it. His finger lightly brushed on her cheek as he placed the hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch and looked down. Draco let a small laugh and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, turning back around to see what he was doing,

"Going to get ready for bed. It's nearly two in the morning."

He started to walk towards the bathroom when Hermione stopped him.

"Wait."

Draco looked at her with confusion. "What is it?"

"Um, I forgot to give you the second part of your gift." She told him.

"Oh really?" Draco raised his eyes, wondering what it could be.

"Yeah." Hermione spoke softly. She walked up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a second kiss that night. The kiss only lasted for seconds before she pulled away from him.

"Me first." Hermione whispered in his ear before running out the door into the bathroom, laughing the whole way there.

Draco, who had been stunned by what she did, flopped down on his bed. He shook his head and let out a laugh at what just happened. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face and the last thing he saw was Hermione's face before falling asleep.


End file.
